Loyalty
by 1980s-popito
Summary: "As Sodapop's friends talked, he tried listening in on the conversation between the nurse and Marcia. 'Concussion... lucky to be alive... amnesia...' was all he was able to get out of the conversation between the two." -Loyalty, Introduction Chapter
1. Introduction

_Just do it, _the voice in her head repeated for the tenth time now.

This was no unfamiliar voice. This voice had been appearing in her head for nearly two months now ever since her parents kicked her out. But it didn't always say the same thing. It had many phrases that haunted her day and night. Everything bad that had happened in her life in the last year is what came into her head. Her parents kicking her out, and the other huge factor, her boyfriend dying. She knew the cause of death was in self-defense, and she wasn't mad at the people who had caused his death, she forgave them a long time ago. She knew he was drunk, just from hours before when she was mad at him, but for some reason- his death had started to bother her, _a lot_. And she didn't know why.

"Cherry?" a voice from the other side of the room called, gaining her attention. "Don't do this. _Please_, don't."

She turned to look over the edge, then back at her best friend, she started to get down to accommodate the request of her friend, but something went wrong. She heard a scream, then her own, and the next thing she could see was black.

-/-/-

"You've reached DX, I'm Sodapop, how can I help you?" he said, answering the ringing phone.

"Sodapop? It's Marcia, Cherry's friend, do you remember me?" she asked as calmly as she could, trying to jog his memory of the her and her best friend.

He nodded to himself. "Yeah, I remember ya… what can I do for ya?" He could hear her sobbing as the other line. "Marcia, what's wrong?"

"It's Cherry," she somehow managed to get out, "She's in the hospital. I'm sorry, I just didn't know who else to call."

His eyes showed worry. "Why is she there? What happened?"

"Just please get here!" she begged and hung up.

-/-/-

"Glory," Steve whistled as he reached out to her.

"_Dallas,_" she faintly whispered, but in a sort of annoyed tone almost, and barely loud enough for them to hear her at all.

Sodapop smacked his best friend in the arm. "Would you knock it off?!"

Ponyboy looked at his older brother's best friend, "Yeah! You know Dal likes her."

Steve rolled his eyes at the youngest Curtis brother. "So what? It ain't like they're together or nothin'. She ain't even taken."

Two-Bit nodded his head a little bit to the group of Socs on the other side of the hallway. "Her Soc friends are here, there's a good reason to quit it!" he whispered, but yelled at the same time.

As Sodapop's friend's talked, he tried listening in on the conversation between the nurse and Marcia. "_Concussion… lucky to be alive… amnesia…"_ was all he was able to get out of the conversation between the two. Marcia nodded at the nurse, eyes full of tears as they both walked out the room. ON her way out, Marcia stopped at him, "I can't take care of her… she wouldn't listen to me or anyone else."

He gave her a confused look. "What do you mean?"

Marcia looked down and did whatever body movements and facial expressions she knew to keep her eyes from letting out any other tears. "Just please, _please_… stay with her… take care of her… maybe she'll listen to you," she mumbled to him, barely taking a glance up at him to avoid any breakdown's.

Before he could say or ask her anything else, she walked down the hallway corridor and through the double doors, leaving the hospital. Sodapop stood for a few seconds looking at the door she walked through, then turned to look in the room of the red-haired girl in the hospital bed. She was still unconscious, her face was emotionless in her state, she was pale and she look fragile and hurt. He sighed, leaning his head back against the wall and closing his eyes for a quick moment. "_What am I gonna do…_" was the first thing that popped into his head.


	2. Chapter 1

**IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE AT END, PLEASE READ IT WHEN YOU FINISH READING THIS STORY**

_**SODA'S POV**_

"SO, supposedly, she has _no_ memory at all who she is or anything else?" Two-Bit asked.

"That's what the nurse said," I sighed, "And from what I understand, her friend Marcia wants _me_ to take care of her."

"And how does she expect you to do that, exactly?" Steve asked, annoyance filling his voice.

I shrugged. "Beats me."

I glanced back into the room and saw Cherry start to wake up. All of her Soc friends with her had left by now, and it was just us. "We should probably go check how she's doin'," Darry suggested. We all nodded and walked into her room, including Evie who was with Steve before we got the call to come.

Cherry had her hands placed against her forehead but they slowly fell down to her sides as she watched us nervously while we walked into her room and she watched us nervously every time we moved, almost like a deer caught in headlights. "Who are you all?" she asked cautiously.

Darry put his hands up in attempt to calm her nerves. "We just wanna see how you're feeling," he said gently.

She still looked unsure. "That doesn't answer my question."

Evie stood up and looked at the rest of us. "How 'bout this," she started, "I'll talk with Lucille Ball over here, alone, without you guys in the room. She's probably scared and confused right now, and a room full of guys she can't remember won't help at all. Trust me, being with someone of the same gender, is more relaxing than more than one of the opposite."

_**CHERRY'S POV**_

The guys who had walked into the room now walked out and the girl who came with them stayed in the room and sat on the edge of the bed. I leaned back, trying to distance myself from her and I swallowed nervously. I had no idea who she was but I wasn't taking any chances. I gave her a questioning look. "I'm sorry about them," she started, "they just, don't really understand how girl's minds work."

"It's… it's okay," I said quietly, still unsure of what to do.

She chuckled a bit. "I'm sorry. You're probably wondering who I am. My name's Evie."

"Hi Evie… um, can I ask you a question?"

She nodded. "Of course."

"Are we friends? Me and you, I mean."

She thought for a moment. "Honestly, we don't know each other _too_ well, but we don't hate each other. Get what I mean?" I nodded. "Um, I'm gonna go tell the nurse you're awake. She wanted us to tell her, alright?" I nodded again and she walked out the room.

_Was she just saying that or was she telling me the truth? And no one answered me yet who those guys were… am I friends with them? Am I dating any of them? Do I hate them?_ I thought, along with about a hundred other questions that filled my head. I was brought out of my thoughts when the nurse walked into the room, gave a smile and started to interrogate me about how I felt and everything else.

_**SODA'S POV**_

We all sat outside and waited for Evie. I thought back to how Cherry's Soc friends were gone by now, which I thought was pretty nervy. I mean, they were her friends, right? I get that Socs and Greasers have different mindsets about a lot of things, but I thought a friend was a friend. And I thought that friends always stick by each other, no matter the situation.

I remembered times when things had happened with us, and we all helped each other out. That's what friends were for. That's how it's supposed to be at least. Friends were the people that you trusted and knew would help you when you needed help, comforted you when you were upset, that kind of stuff. I guess that was another difference.

Evie came out and leaned against Steve's chair. "Poor girl is scared to death," she sighed.

"Well, that's expected right?" Ponyboy asked.

Evie shrugged. "I guess so. I dunno nothin' 'bout this doctor stuff."

Darry came back from the phone by the nurse's station. "Alright," he started, "Thankfully, when they called the cops about what happened, they found a contact book in her room and found anumber labeled _house_… apparently, she's been living with her best friend and her family for a while now."

I gave a confused look. "Why's that?"

"For some reason, her parents kicked her out the house a little while back. I asked her friend… Marcia, I think?... she said no one knew why her parents kicked her out except for her parents and Cherry. Supposedly, her parents left town without a trace. House is empty and on the market."

"Then why'd Marcia leave before?" Two-Bit asked.

"She said she couldn't stand to see her best friend like this. Also, her family leaves town in a week to see their family for the whole summer."

I gave another weird look. "They're still gonna leave, even with her like this? Where's she gonna stay?"

"She can stay with me," Evie spokeup, "My folks won't mind." A nurse came out of Cherry's room and asked to talk to Darry. Evie looked at me, "Soda, can I talk to ya for a sec?" I nodded and she led me around the corner to the next hallway.

"What's goin' on?" I asked.

"I should be asking you that," she answered, "Since when do you care so much about Cherry over there?"

I thought for a moment in an obvious way. "Well, let's see… she nearly killed herself, and the process, she got a concussion and amnesia!"

"Well, I get that… but I thought you still had a thing for Sandy that you wouldn't care _this_ much about Cherry."

"Who said I had a thing for Cherry?" She gave me an unconvinced look. I sighed, "Ok, ok, maybe I do. I dunno." I thought for a moment, "Evie, can you help with somethin'?"

"Depends," she shrugged, "What do ya need help with?"

I knew what I had in mind was sneaky and pretty messed up, but I just wanted to see something. Evie said that I had feelings for Cherry, but I still had feelings for Sandy… I'm pretty sure I did at least. Either way, I knew this idea that I had would help me figure out how I felt about who. But, I could only do it with help from Evie.

I explained to her what I had in mind and her eyes widened a bit, "Soda, that's not like you at all."

I sighed, "I know, I know. I just wanna try somethin'. Please Evie, and maybe you can get Kathy and Lily on it?"

She sighed and crossed her arms. "I can get Kathy to agree, but lucky for you she can get Lily to agree. I can probably get Steve to agree, though you could too. Kathy or Lily could get Two-Bit, Lily oculd get Ponyboy, but Darry'll be hard."

"Thanks, Evie. It-"

"But don't think I agree with it! Cause even I know this is a bad idea, and that's coming from me!"

I nodded slowly, knowing she was right about the whole thing.

**Ok, this story is a request. Just know that anything that happens or what happened with Cherry, I am NOT making fun of anyone who has tried to kill themselves because of depression or anything else, cause anyone who makes fun of that is pretty messed up. I'll be the first to admit that I've had struggles with how I felt about myself cause right around my birthday last year, for some reason, I was kinda depressed or something so I'm NOT making fun of anyone.**

**Like I said, this story is a request along with some certain things in the plot to come in later chapters. Updates may be a little slower for this cause this story is hard, considering the scenario, so suggestions for anything for this story are 100% welcome.**

**I hope you like this story, and don't find anything offensive. Peace from all the hippies of the world. =^-^=**


	3. Chapter 2

_**CHERRY'S POV:**_

"So I've been living with you?" I asked the girl who said her name was Evie.

She titled her head side to side a little bit, "Yeah… but no one is really sure how long you will be."

"Where are my parents that I'm not with them?

She hesitated. "They're always on business trips, so you started staying with me."

My head started to spin a little cause I was so confused. "But you said we weren't close friends… if we're not close, why am I staying with you instead of someone else? No offense."

"None taken… and it's cause my boyfriend and your boyfriend are best friends, so they figured we should hang out more, and it just worked out that way."

I knew I still had a confused look on my face, but I decided to just accept the answers she and everyone else had been giving me. I paused. "I have a boyfriend?" She nodded. "Is he here?" She nodded and walked out the room, then she came back about a minute later, pushing someone in front of her into the room- judging by our previous conversation, it was who she claimed was my boyfriend… I'll admit though, he was _really_attractive.

The two exchanged a few words and then he sat in the chair next to the bed and Evie walked out the room, leaving me and the guy alone. "So how ya doin'?" he asked softly, breaking the awkward silence that had taken over the room when Evie left.

I shrugged, "Not terrible, I guess… my head hurts a lot thought, but that's really it."

"Oh, uh… that's… that's cause you got a mild concussion, the doctor said."

"Yeah…" I paused again. "Um… Evie said that, that you're my boyfriend."

He nodded. "Yeah I am."

"How long have we been going out?"

" 'Bout a month and a half."

"I feel kinda bad that I don't remember you." _How I couldn't remember such an attractive face, I don't know_, I thought.

He chuckled, "It's fine, really… uh, my name- believe it or not- is Sodapop."

I felt a small smile form on my face. "Sodapop is your legal name?" He chuckled and nodded. "I like it, very original and different. Not something you hear every day."

We both sat talking and laughing for a long while after that. He kept telling me about my life, at least what he knew, so he could help me remember. He told me about our relationship and how I was friends with his friends too because of it, well, all except for two of them who had died months earlier; one from a bad accident, one cause the cops shot him but that he wanted it cause he was really upset about the other one who had died and they all guessed that he wanted to die cause he couldn't live without him. I decided not to ask much about the whole thing, not yet anyway, cause when he told me as much as he did about that, I could see his eyes start to get watery.

He then described each and every one of the others:

His younger brother, named Ponyboy, was almost fifteen years old. He had really good grades and because of that, he was put ahead a grade in school when he was supposed to go to eighth grade and instead went to ninth grade. He also likes to read and watch movies a lot. And he was real smart because of it and everyone was pretty sure that he was gonna end up getting a scholarship in the future cause of it.

He also had an older brother, Darry, who was twenty-one years old. Ever since their parents had died, he had been taking care of him and Ponyboy. For a while when he had first taken over as guardian, he was pretty on edge a lot, especially on his youngest brother, but that was just cause he was really worried and wanted the best for him. Ever since the two friends died cause of some event, the three had gotten closer and he was less on edge.

Then Two-Bit who was the second oldest, and his real name was Keith. I would say how he got his nickname, but I'm not fully sure I understood how. He had a younger sister who was Ponyboy's age that he was basically a father to ever since their dad walked out on him, his sister and his mom. He always was making jokes or stupid and funny comments about everything that happened, and I think that had a factor in his nickname.

Then Kathy, who was Two-Bit's girlfriend. She had blonde hair and dark brown eyes. Apparently, I was pretty good friends with her. She was a nice girl, unless you got her mad- then all hell would break loose. Part of that was cause she had three younger siblings. Her mother had started to date and find a new husband once her father had divorced her mother, and when she would go out with her now step-dad, she would have to be in charge of three little girls and now lived with them.

And Lily, who was Two-Bit's younger sister. Her real name was Liliana, but she hated the name and preferred to be called Lily. She was fifteen, sixteen at the end of the year. Supposedly, she was the spitting image of her brother, who supposedly was the spitting image of their mother- at least by looks. Personality wise, she was quiet and shy, but a little more outgoing once she got to know you and was comfortable with you, which was the complete opposite of her brother.

Then Steve, who was best friends with Sodapop. They've been best friends since they were little kids. Steve was also Evie's boyfriend. He worked with Sodapop at the gas station that nearly everyone went to, the DX, fixing cars and such. His home life wasn't the greatest; his dad was a drunk who would verbally abuse Steve, but was no stranger to physical abuse when he was drunk enough. That's part of the reason that he would stay with Sodapop and his brothers a lot overnight.

And then Evie. She had dark brown hair, so dark that in certain lighting looked like she had black hair. She had been dating Steve for nearly two years, and apparently, Sodapop's now ex-girlfriend had introduced the two to each other. Evie was pretty outgoing and not very subtle, but they said I'd get used to it, especially since I had recently started to live with her.

"Ok," I started, "You've told me about everyone else."

"Yeah?" he trailed off.

"Well both you and Evie said that you're my boyfriend… and considering the situation, you haven't told me about you… I feel bad cause I don't remember you, but still."

"Well, what do you wanna do?"

I shrugged. "Anything."

He nodded. "Ok… my middle name is Patrick. I was born October 8, 1948. I like Elvis Presley movies and they're really the only ones that I can sit still and watch, with the exception of a few other funny movies. I dropped outta high school last year and got a job to help my older brother out. I-"

I chuckled and held my hand up to stop him. "I don't mean _that_ kind of stuff. I mean like, _about _you… like if we were on a first date, the kind of stuff you would say."

He chuckled, "This _is_ what I said on our first date."

"Well then, can we kinda just, start over? I mean, again, considering the situation…"

"I get it… and I think that's a good idea."

I smiled, "Thanks."

He smiled back and nodded.

**Hi…. I don't really have much to say for an author's note… I don't know why, maybe I'm sick cause I always have something to say, I don't know.**

**Oh, ok… if you're reading this, you most likely read and watched the outsiders, so if you're probably reading this, you're most like a fan of those seven actors (C Thomas Howell, Ralph Macchio, Matt Dillon, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez,Tom Cruise) and one actress (Diane Lane)… so if you're someone who's a big fan of Patrick Swayze (like I is), and you know a lot of his filmography- you probably have heard of the North and South series by John Jakes but he played one of the main characters in the mini series from '85 and '86- just know that those will make you cry as much as you did when you read and watched the outsiders, just trust me**

**That was random… hope you liked this chapter! Peace from all the hippies of the world! =^-^=**


	4. Chapter 3

**WARNING! There are parts of this chapter that showed a previous case of depression and being suicidal… if anyone has trouble with this, skip over Evie's point of view and feel free to contact me to talk or just ask someone for help.**

**I am not making fun of those types of situations, I struggled with it last year and I know how it feels, so no one say I'm making fun of people who are depressed.**

Two weeks later, the redhead was released from the hospital.

The girl with dark black hair, who had been identified as Evie, drove through the moderately crowded streets of Tulsa. It wasn't as crowded as New York, but it wasn't some town in the middle of nowhere that people stumbled on when they were on a road trip and would get lost. It wasn't a big name city either though, at least that's what Cherry thought from what she saw.

Evie pulled up to a house on the East Side of town. The house wasn't big, but wasn't small either. To Cherry, it looked average size. It had a cozy look to it, at least it did on the outside. Cherry discovered that the cozy look on the outside matched the inside of the house- which made the house seem even more cozy than any house she could remember while passing through town.

"Esther? You home?" Evie called through the house as the two girls walked in. Her answer was a faint "_yes"_ coming from up the stairs on the second floor.

"Who's Esther?" Cherry asked Evie with a quiet tone.

"She's my little sister," Evie answered with an annoyed sigh, "I'll make her stay away from you if you want me too." The redhead shrugged and continued to follow Evie through the house up the stairs.

-/-/-

"You ain't gonna believe this," the second oldest of the gang said, "But I managed to get both Kathy _and_ Lily to go along with this."

"I can't believe I got Ponyboy along with it," Sodapop said.

"As long as either Lily or Ponyboy was in on it, they'd be able to convince the other." The taller of the two shrugged and laughed, but all Sodapop let out was a small chuckle and weak smile formed on his face.

While Two-Bit went on about one of his usual out-of-the-ordinary stories, Sodapop couldn't help but think of what he was doing… or even what he could possibly be getting himself into. If his plan backfired, so much could go wrong. A few people could even get their feelings hurt. There were so many things that could go wrong with this plan that, even when everything had become like normal, everything could come back and bite them all in the behind. _What was I thinking? _Sodapop thought and held back a groan, suddenly regretting his decision about this stupid plan.

He tried to get rid of all negative thoughts about the whole situation, which took a good ten minutes. Even after they were gone after those ten minutes, a thought would pop into his head for a minute or so and would interrupt whatever his current train of thought was. _It's too late, _he thought, _no turning back on this damn plan._

-/-/-

Evie couldn't help but feel bad for the girl with red hair that Sodapop, her boyfriend's best friend, had a crush on. Before her amnesia, she had obviously been depressed, and even a bit suicidal. She had obviously tried to jump out of a window- that's what got her in this case- and Evie had seen faint scratch like marks lining the majority of her wrists.

_Maybe Socs lives aren't so hot after all_, Evie thought.

Everything she knew about Sherri 'Cherry" Valance came into her head. From what they all knew, she had been kinda depressed about the death of her boyfriend a little over a year earlier. Not long after, her parents had left tow with all their belongings, but without saying a word to Cherry or anyone else of their location. That's when she had gone to go live with her best friend Marcia. But Marcia couldn't even stay cause her family had to leave town for the entire summer for family affairs.

Cherry had no one.

Evie then decided: she wouldn't just do this for Soda. She'd do it for the Soc who now had a life, not very different from most Greasers.

-/-/-

"This is your bed," Evei said abruptly, like she had previously been focused on something else.

Cherry nodded and walked to where the girl with jet-black hair signaled. From what Cherry was told in the last two weeks, she didn't know Evie too well. That's part of the reason she was staying with her. Cherry's parents were outta town on business, so Soda and Steve thought it would be a good idea- considering they were best friends- for Cherry to stay with Evie so they could get to know each other better. Evie had struck Cheryy just as she had been described: loud, in your face, lacking the ability to be subtle. But once you got past all that, she was a good person.

"I know it's not big," Evie shrugged, "But it's all we could really afford to get for now."

There was no sound of looking for pity in Evie's tone, more like generosity, but Cherry couldn't help but feel bad- but she wasn't entirely sure why she felt so terrible about it. Like there was more there that she couldn't figure out. "This is fine, really," she smiled.

Evei smiled back and took Cherry's small bag of personal items. "I cleared some space for your stuff. And for clothes, mine is yours. We're about the same size so feel free to use anything from the closet- just no underwear or bras." Evie teased with a laugh.

Cherry gave a small smile. "You sure it's alright?" Cherry then sent Evie a look that showed slight guilt. Evie nodded and gave a slight smile at the other girl.

-/-/-

While Cherry unpacked her small bag, Evie went on a search for her younger sister- Esther- through the small house.

Esther was the spitting image of her older sister- at least by appearance. Personality wise, that was another story. Evie was loud and outgoing, in your face, and didn't know how to sugarcoat things. Esther on the other hand was shy, quiet and kept somewhat to herself. When you got to know her though, she would open up a bit more, but if you were really close with her, she showed some slight signs of her older sister. But to Evie, Esther was the obnoxious fifteen-year-old brat whose room was right next door to hers.

"Esther? Where are you?" Evie called, knowing her sister was home.

No answer.

"Esther?! Where the hell are you, ya little brat?!"

Evie turned at the sound of footsteps on the staircase. "Who're you calling a brat?" Esther yelled at her older sister.

"You… and I just wanted to know where you were."

"Who was that girl with you?"

"A friend… and stay away from her or I'll kick you in the ass, got it?" Evei growled at her younger sister. Before she got an answer from Esther, the younger girl was already stomping back up the stairs and she heard the bedroom door close.

Right when Evie was abot to go back upstairs to her own room where Cherry was, Cherry came down the stairs and stopped on the third to last step on the staircase. "Hey, um," Cherry rubbed the back of her neck nervously, "I need you to ask you a slight favor."

Evie nodded in response. "Sure, what's goin' on?"

"Ok… so, me and Sodapop made plans for tonight. And I was wondering if you could help me get ready?"

Evie smiled and nodded. "I'd love to." The girl with hair as dark and black as a raven ran to the stairs and lead the girl with her the same color as Lucille Ball back to the now shared room to look through the closet and through every article of clothing in their disposal.

**Ok, so you probably saw my note at the beginning so I'm not gonna explain that.**

**As you probably noticed, this chapter was in third person point of view. What that means is that it's not the character saying what's happening, it's a different source that is omnipresent and knows what's going on with each of the characters. I've recently started to experiment with that type of writing and will be for the majority of this story cause it's easier for stories with more than one main character- so it will also be for "Cherry Flavored Soda" and for "The Nighthawks" (but I doubt anyone of you reading this is reading my expendables fan fic)**

**Also, sorry for the long wait! Like I said, third person is easier so I may be updating more often, but also school is almost over so I've been trying to catch up with a few things with that so yeah.**

**Anyway- peace from all the hippies of the world! =^-^=**


	5. Chapter 4

"Does this look ok?" cherry asked as she stepped out of the bathroom.

The redhead was wearing a skirt that ended two-thirds of her thigh from the top. The skirt was a shade of dark blue, nearly black- navy blue- with tiny polka dots spread throughout the surface of the material. Her shirt was a short sleeve button up blouse. On the bottom, it had two longer edges so it could be tied in the front at the bottom of where the buttons were. The blouse was red with tiny, faint white polka dots. The blouse wasn't too big or too small, but rather fit her comfortably and helped show the form of her figure- which is part of the reason that Evie chose it for Cherry to wear.

Evie nodded as a huge smile formed on her face, "It looks so great on you! Better that it ever did on me." Evie laughed at her comment.

Cherry smiled and let out a chuckle of her own. "Hey, I have another favor to ask you…"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Do you know anything I could with my hair?"

Evie nodded and smiled. "Of course! Come here."

Cherry followed the girl with jet black hair to the vanity on the other side of the room. It wasn't a huge vanity, but it wasn't small either- it was somewhere in between. It had a few drawers and a table top covered with makeup containers, hair pins, hair products and a few personal objects. Evie gestured for Cherry to sit on the stool in front of it with her hand and Cherry did as she was instructed.

What Evie did was first she brushed Cherry's red hair that, except for its volume and thickness, looked like it could belong to Lucille Ball. She then did two small braids, one on each side of her head and had them meet in the back of her head. Evie then pulled the rest of Cherry's hair into a ponytail, tucking the two edges of the braids into the scrunchy. To finish off the look, Evie took two to three curlers and wrapped the ends of the ponytail around them and when they were off, then ends had a light bounce with every move.

Cherry questioned about the use of makeup, but the answer she got from Evie was a head shake and "You're too pretty for makeup."

-/-/-

"I dunno why I'm so nervous for my date with her," Soda shrugged and let out a sigh.

Two-Bit nodded. "I've never known you to be so nervous 'bout anything involving a broad… well, maybe _one_ thing, but we won't go there."

Soda gave him a look of annoyance and disgust. The oldest Curtis brother swatted the back of the head of the boy with hair the color of rust. "We got kids here," Darry muttered and slightly acknowledged the two youngest in the room.

"I've never been so happy to be called a kid," the youngest Curtis mumbled to his quiet friend, who laughed at the comment and nodded.

Darry sent a quick smile at his youngest brother then turned back to the other two. "Besides, I'd like to think that my brother is still… ya know." His voice was quiet so only the two could hear.

"And to ease your nerves," Soda whispered to his oldest brother, "I still am and plan to be till I'm married."

Darry nodded as Soda made his way to the room he shared with his younger brother. He didn't mind sleeping in the same bed as Ponyboy, but he'd be lying if there wasn't once or twice when he felt like sleeping on his own. But either way, if that's what he had to do to make sure his brother wasn't having any bad dreams, he was happy to do it.

"So you have your date with little miss redhead tonight, huh?" Steve asked, due to his absence during the previous conversation.

Soda nodded. "I feel kinda guilty."

"Guilty? Why?"

"Cause we're all lying to her and it was all my idea."

"We didn't have to go along with it, ya know? We felt we kinda had to."

Soda gave his best friend a confused look. "What're you talkin' about?"

"You'll find out later," Steve shrugged and walked out the room.

-/-/-

Cherry sat on the back porch of the house waiting for Soda to get to the house like he said he would to come pick her up. She wasn't sure what he was planning to do for the date or where they were going but she was both nervous and excited about the date. Sure, they had been dating for a while now- at least that's what everyone told her. She still felt bad that she couldn't remember any of them or her boyfriend- who, even though she didn't remember him previous to her amnesia, she would admit was good looking and had been very kind and sweet to her in the last two weeks.

_You'd think I'd remember something from before_, Cherry thought. She shook away the thought and stared at the setting sun. She shut her eyes for a moment to enjoy the calm breeze.

"_Can you see the sunset real good from the West Side?" an unclear figure with blond hair asked._

"_Real good," her own voice said._

"_You can see it good from the East Side, too."_

Her eyes opened suddenly and a confused expression found its way to her face. Who was the blond figure? The face wasn't clear but the features that she could make out looked really familiar. But the West Side? She didn't know anything or anyone from the West Side of Tulsa- at least she was pretty sure she didn't. But why was someone asking her about the _West Side?_ She was from the Easat Side like Soda and the rest of their friends… right?

"Cherry?" a voice asked from behind her. Cherry turned and saw Evie. "Soda's here for you," Evie said.

Cherry nodded and followed her inside the house. She smiled a bit when she saw the back of the boy with blondish hair standing at the front door. He turned and smiled back at her. _He kinda looks like the boy who asked about the sunset_, she thought, but they didn't look exactly the same. "You look real nice," he whispered to the redhead, making he cheeks turn pink as they walked out the house.

"Have her home by midnight!" Evie called with a laugh at the two, making the two laugh as well.

**I forgot what I was gonna have here in the author's note- oh well. Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Peace from all the hippies of the world! =^-^=**


	6. Chapter 5

**PLEASE READ THIS NOTE**

**Ok, if you have a history of any type of depression or cutting or any thoughts of self harm, this chapter does not need to be read and if you do or have had those- PLEASE DON'T READ THIS CHAPTER. I don't really have it happen, but it is mentioned so I just want people to be cautious cause I know that stuff is very easy yet very hard to do. Also, before anyone accuses me of making a joke out of it or something, DON'T. To be honest, I haven't been feeling that well (not sick wise) lately and will explain later. But please just take my advice and also message me, I'll explain what happened in the chapter. Thank you.**

**-/-/-**

"You want something to eat first?"

Cherry shrugged, "Depends on what we're doing."

"Fine," Soda sighed teasingly, "I was gonna take you to the park for our date then kinda just walk around and ya know, kinda talk. To maybe, ya know, jog your memory."

The redhead smiled, making Soda smile back. "That sounds nice."

Soda's smile grew a little and he led her to a car. "My brother let me borrow his truck so I could put the basket thing in the back seat," he said as they got into the car. He motioned to the back seat as they both shut their doors. Cherry looked and saw a picnic basket resting on the back seat of the car. She looked back at Soda and nodded with a slight smile on her face.

Cherry was still pretty uneasy about everyone and being alone with them. She felt bad about her feeling that way, but she couldn't get rid of the feeling. She had tried nearly everything in the past two weeks to get the feeling to go away, but nothing worked. She figured it was cause she didn't really remember them and expected the feeling to go away as time went on and she got her memory back.

"Anything you want to know," Soda started, taking her from her thoughts and her attention going on him, "Just ask."

"I'll do that," Cherry smiled.

-/-/-

Evie sat at home waiting for Lily and Kathy to have their monthly sleepover and movie night. Every Friday, on the local television program, they would have some sort of movie event thing where they would play a few movies with either a few of the same genre or a few of the same actor that was the main character, or both combined. It would end at midnight like every other station on the television. This week it was one of those combination ones. It was Katharine Hepburn comedies: _Bringing Up Baby, The African Queen, _and _Pat and Mike_.

Out of the three movies, she couldn't decide which she liked best. But if she had to choose from Spencer Tracy, Cary Grant or Humphrey Bogart as her favorite leading man in the films or just her favorite male actor in general- her answer would always be Cary Grant. She had seen nearly all his movies all the way up to _Father Goose_ released in 1964.

Knowing Evie, you wouldn't think she liked movies as much as she did. She just didn't seem the type that would be so interested in movies. Everyone thought it was just Soda's little brother Ponyboy that was into the movies and books and reading. A lot of people didn't know this about Evie, but she actually loved to read and write, ever since she was about ten years old. At the bottom of her closet, there was about fifty to one hundred and fifty notebooks with her little short stories or books that she had wanted to write and did finish- just never published- that she had written since she first started. The only story that wasn't there was her first that she completed and was actually proud of that she started when she was eleven and finished when she had just turned thirteen. It was a short story told from the third person about someone who would hide how they really did things and only exposed them to certain people that they trusted. It was on some folded up pieces of notebook paper that she had with her everywhere she went- yet of course she used her mother's old type writer to type up in case something ever happened to it.

She heard a few knocks on the door followed by a "_We're here!"_ The voice she recognized belonged to Kathy, Two-Bit's girlfriend.

Evie got up and jogged over to the door. "I'm comin'!... hey you two," she smiled and let the two in.

Lily- Two-Bit's kid sister- and Kathy both smiled, walked in and set their overnight bags against the wall. "Cherry's not here?" Lily asked and sat down on the couch.

Evie shook her head. "She's out with Soda."

"Oh yeah, how's she doin'?" Kathy asked.

Evie shrugged a bit. "I don't know, I think so… but there was something weird on her wrists."

Both Lily and Kathy gave confused looks. "What kind of marks do you mean?"

"I don't really know. When I was helping her get ready for her date with Soda, I saw these weird lines on her wrists and leading up to the edge of where her arm bends at the elbow, but ya know, on the wrist side. "

"Did she mention it at all?"

Evie shook her head. "No, she didn't seem to even notice. They're obviously from before the… well, ya know. They look like lines, but they're faint scars. On both of her arms."

"Maybe you can ask her later?" Lily suggested with a shrug.

Evie shrugged and let out a sigh and shrugged. The three then abandoned the topic of their conversation and got ready for when the movies would start on the local television station. For the majority of _Bringing Up Baby_, her attention was on something else.

Evie just couldn't really sit and enjoy the majority of _Bringing Up Baby_. She couldn't help but think about the redhead's wrists and what she had seen earlier; the lines that were scars, with a red tint and how both ends of one line on were faint as if the lines were done quickly and artificially almost- almost like they were caused intentionally and not even by some accident. _What are those marks?_ Evie thought to herself. From what she could tell, Cherry didn't even notice what they were or that they were even there.

_She probably don't even remember what they're from_, Evie thought with a sigh and tried to concentrate on Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant looking for a tiger.

-/-/-

Marcia sat on the bed in the guest room of her extended family's home.

The family was her mother's cousin Kitty. Marcia didn't know her real name since all her life, she knew the woman as "Kitty", but she guessed that her name was something like Katherine or something of the sort. She lived in the state of Wisconsin up north in a little suburb called Point Place. It wasn't a huge town, but it was a nice little town. Kitty lived with her husband- who everyone called Red- and their two kids, Laurie and Eric. Laurie was nine years old, soon going on ten, and Eric was seven. Maria didn't know too many details of the family, but her and her parents visited them for two-thirds of the summer every year since she was little. Supposedly, her mother and her cousin Kitty were very close ever since they were kids and were sometimes even a bit closer than Kitty was with her own sister.

Marcia was always excited to go see them- even though Kitty's husband Red scared her sometimes- but this time she wasn't as excited as normal. She had a strong feeling of guilt. She wished she could've stayed back in Tulsa, just this one time. She felt bad about leaving Sodapop with Cherry, but she knew she wouldn't be able to handle seeing her best friend so confused and not knowing everything they had been through since they've been friends. She wouldn't be able to handle her best friend having amnesia, so- despite her massive feeling of depression- Cherry would talk about having an interest in Soda, so she thought maybe he could handle it.

A knock on the door took her from her thoughts. "Marcia?" she heard in little Laurie's voice as the door creaked open.

Marcia turned and saw Laurie and her little brother poking their heads in. Marcia gave the two a weak smile, "Hey Laurie. Hey Eric."

Laurie turned to her little brother and smirked a little, "She said hi to me first!" Laurie stuck her tongue out at the little boy.

Eric frowned at the slightly older blonde girl, "That's cause you went in first!"

Marcia chuckled. "Do you two wanna come in?" she asked with a smile still in place and trying to get the two to drop their pointless argument. The two did as she thought and dropped it and ran over and sat at both her right and left side. "So what's up?"

"We wanted to know why you've been so sad lately," Eric said to her curiously.

Marcia's frown returned. "Oh, um… my best friend back home. She's uh… she's really sick."

Laurie gave a confused look. "She doesn't feel good?"

Marcia shook her head and managed a weak smile. "No, not really."

Eric's face lit up and he jumped up. "Can we make cards for her? It might make her feel better!"

Marcia chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, sure. She'd like that."

Both Eric and Laurie smiled at her answer and ran out the room. Marcia smiled and laughed at her two little distant cousins and ran to the doorway of the room and watched as the two siblings ran down the stairs past their mother and father. "What the hell was that?" Red asked with a confused expression, looking back and forth between Marcia and Kitty, and Marcia couldn't help but laugh again.

**Ok, hopefully you guys all saw my beginning note. I said I would explain what I meant when I said that I wasn't feeling good- but not sick. I explained this in the author's note at the end of "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" chapter in my expendables story "Nighthawks". Something happened that basically made me depressed for about a month in total and I'm finally getting over it. But it was something my mom said that really made me consider things between me and other adults since I'm still a teenager, but I won't go to into it cause I'm better than I was, just not 100% yet- which is also part of the reason I haven't updated in forever. I didn't think I should be writing something like this story with me feeling bad and maybe cause something.**

**Anyway- finally a good update: my dad's birthday was yesterday, I finished school last Friday and bought myself a billy idol cd to congratulate myself that has all my favorite songs of his, and I'm watching pretty in pink as I type.**

**So, hope you enjoyed this chapter- peace from all the hippies of the world. =^-^=**


	7. Chapter 6

"You and Steve really didn't get caught?" Cherry chuckled.

Soda smiled and nodded at the redhead, "Yeah… it happens in town all the time, so it's pretty much not even enforced. People got used to it… at least on the East Side."

Soda was telling Cherry of a time- more like one of the times- when him and Steve had gone out around midnight and taken the hubcaps off of a few cars in town. They usually did it when they were all hyped up about something that would be happening or that already happened, almost like a celebration type thing. Soda couldn't figure out why, but for some reason, Cherry found the whole thing absolutely fascinating.

-/-/-

Cherry listened intently as Soda told his story. She had been listening so intently in hopes of possibly remembering anything. So far, nothing came to mind. Still, the only things, people and events she could remember was from when she woke up from the hospital about two weeks previous to the present and all that had happened in between those two points.

Well, there was that boy she remembered. The one who asked her about the sunsets on the West Side of town. She couldn't see the exact details of his face, or at least if she did, she couldn't remember them. But he looked like Sodapop. Cherry knew that the boy in the memory was not Sodapop, but the features she could make out of his face were very similar. There were a few differences though- he was shorter, his hair was a blonde type that was slightly different from Sodapop's, and they're eyes seemed kinda different to her for some reason. But she wasn't sure how likely they could be cause she had no idea when the memory was from. For all she knew, it could be from one day before, one week before, one month before, or even one year before.

"Can I ask you about something?" Cherry asked him kinda abrubtly.

Soda nodded with a small smile, "Yeah, course."

She thought of a way to word her question. "Do you watch sunsets at all?" was the only way she could think of wording it."

Soda gave a look of slight confusion, which went away as quickly as it came. "No, not usually, sorry. Remember my little brother Ponyboy? He watches them nearly every day."

Cherry perked up when she heard that, happy that something was finally coming to her memory. "Did he ever have short, blonde hair?"

Soda thought for a moment then nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, he did. About a year ago, he had to dye his hair and cut it short. Kid was heart broke till all the blonde was gone and his hair grew back out. Why?"

"Uh… something I remembered, that's all."

"If you don't mind me askin'… what was it?"

Cherry hesitated at first. "Ok… when I was waiting for you at Evie's before, I was sitting out on the back steps and looked at the sunset. I shut my eyes for a sec' cause I thought, ya know, maybe since it was so calm and such, maybe I could remember something."

"And you did?"

"Yeah I did."

Sodapop smiled at her, "Cherry, that's great!"

Cherry's mouth curled into a small smile and looked down at bit then back sat Soda. "Yeah… yeah, I guess it is."

-/-/-

Darry Curtis and his youngest brother Ponyboy sat at the dining room table; Ponyboy working on a summer reading project, Darry doing the math involved in paying some bill. The two brothers sat in silence, only speaking if one had a question about what the other was doing- which was not very often. The soundtrack for Elvis Presley's film _Jailhouse Rock_ released in 1957 played softly on the record player to fill the silence.

Darry would stop occasionally to just think for a moment. Not about what he would usually think about though. He kept thinking about that girl, Cherry Valance. He remembered that night at the hospital. For some reason, Cherry's friend Marcia had called them to come to the hospital. Then she basically dumped the poor girl right on their doorstep.

"Some friend she's got," Darry mumbled with a slight sigh.

Ponyboy looked up and across the table at his oldest brother with a slightly confused look on his face. "Huh?"

Darry looked up, not realizing that he said what he thought at loud until his brother acknowledged it. "Oh, uh… nothin'. Just thinkin'."

Ponyboy placed a small sheet of paper in his book to mark his page, shut the book and placed it down in front of him on the table. "Well, what about?"

Darry knew Ponyboy had started listening to what other people told him or were telling him better than he used to. He would listen even then, but he would almost always disappear into one of his other worlds inside his mind. He didn't mean to do that, the kid just happened to have a very active imagination- which was unexpected for someone his age. He was fifteen now, and as soon as he turned fifteen, it's like he got better at listening and other things, almost like some weird form of maturing. Since he was listening more and was listening better, and had asked Darry about what he was thinking, Darry figured he might as well tell his youngest brother.

"Ya know how Cherry Valance can't remember anything for now?" Darry asked his little brother.

Ponyboy nodded, "Yeah, why?"

"Well, I just feel kinda bad for both her and Soda."

"Why's that?"

Darry smiled to himself and thought, _This kid is always askin' questions._ "Cause Cherry can't remember a thing from before the… well, ya know. Not to mention her friend left and dumped her on Soda."

"Maybe it was meant to happen," Ponyboy shrugged.

"What do you mean?"

"In school we had to read this story and the whole theme and such was that everything happens for a reason, like anything that happens that's either good or bad. It happened for a reason."

Darry thought for a moment. "You know the name of the story?"

Ponyboy shook his head. "No, sorry, Dar. My teacher on focused on it for a week."

Darry nodded as his little brother went back to his reading assignment. While Ponyboy continued, Darry tried to continue with the math he had to do for the small amount of bills- which still felt like a lot to him- but he just couldn't concentrate on it, no matter how hard he tried.

Later on that night, Darry kept thinking about what Ponyboy had said. _Maybe it was meant to happen_. Darry had started to believe his brother was right.

-/-/-

Sodapop walked next to Cherry as the two walked up to the back door of Evie's house. By now it was dark and a little after ten o'clock at night and there was a slight breeze.

Cherry had asked a few questions while they were out- aside from the memory she asked Soda about= but not as many as he thought she would. To be honest, he considered it to be both a good thing and a bad thing. Good, because he didn't have to say anything else that might make him feel worse than he had on and off for the last two weeks. Bad, because she still had no idea about nearly everything in her life previously.

"I had fun tonight," Cherry smiled at him, taking him away from his thoughts.

Soda smiled back and nodded, "Yeah, I did too."

"I honestly hope our _real_ first date was as nice as this."

That's when the on and off guilty feeling that Soda had been having turned back on, but he tried to hide it as best as he could with his smile. "It was."

**I feel like I'm making Sodapop sound like a monster oh my gahd X(**

**Anyway, I finished reading both "Rumble Fish" and "That Was Then, This Is Now" in a matter of five days. I can't find "Tex" anywhere so me and my mom have to order it on amazon, so I started reading "Charleston" by John Jakes and to be honest, I'm not fully disappointed that I couldn't find "Tex" quite yet.**

**Oh, I have a question- to those who have seen "It's A Wonderful Life", do you remember George's (Jimmy Stewart) little brother in the movie, Harry Bailey? Doesn't he make you think of Sodapop? Last week me and my friends Alex and Sara had a movie day three out of five days and one was "Christmas in July" and we watched it and Sara thought the same exact thing… by the way, she's now reading "Rumble Fish" and the three of us went to the zoo last Friday and we both got little toy turtles and mine is named Rusty-James and hers is Steve XD (you will get it if you've read or saw Rumble Fish")**

**Anyway, hope you like this story so far and enjoyed the chapter! Peace from all the hippies of the world! =^-^=**


	8. Chapter 7

"Cherry, can I ask you somethin'?"

Evie and Cherry were both getting ready for bed, right along with Lily and Kathy. The other two girls were getting their sleeping bags, pillows, and blankets in the living room. Cherry and Evie were btoh dressed into what they would wear for bed and now just getting whatever they need to sleep donstairs as well.

Cherry nodded, "Yeah of course. What's up?"

Evie wanted to ask Cherry about the marks on her wrists. She didn't want to make Cherry remember something that may not have been something that might cause anything that would make Cherry… well, she wasn't quite sure what, but it would be nothing good. For whatever reason, she couldn't find it in herself to ask.

"How was your date with Soda?" Evie asked her.

She got her answer when Cherry's cheeks got pink and she saw her bite back a smile. "It was really nice," Cherry said, still trying to hold back her smile.

Evie's mindset quickly changed to Cherry and Soda's date. "Ooooh… what was _really nice_ about it?"

"To be honest, I'm not really sure. You know how there are things that feel right and feel good?"

Evie smirked a bit. "Yeah…?"

Cherry bit her lip again, still trying to hold back a smile. "Well, it was kinda like that."

Evie smiled and nodded as the two continued to talk as they walked down the stairs to the living room where Kathy and Lily were and where Cherry would again be questioned about her date with Sodapop, in which she answered every question the same way she had answered Evie, which included the smile she had been holding back. This time when she answered their questions, she didn't try to hide her smile, knowing she was failing miserably. But she didn't really mind her failure to hide her smile.

-/-/-

"So how was your date with little miss redhead?" Steve asked Soda with a smirk.

The two were working their Saturday afternoon shift at the DX. That particular shift was a bit busier than the rest of the week, considering it was Saturday and that's when most people would do their errands, plus the fact that it was the afternoon so nearly everyone was awake by now. It would've been just as busy but the reason is wasn't was because of the summer. No matter what side of town you were from, families went on vacation out of town- more families from the West Side would go farther away and for a longer period of time, but even families from the East Side would drive out of town for a week to two weeks usually.

Soda kept thinking about his date with Cherry form the night before as him and Steve worked on the cars that need repairs. Cherry had said how she had enjoyed the date, and Soda would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy the date either. He still felt bad and guilty about how he had lied to her- but he didn't really regret going on that date with her.

"It was good," Soda answered with a smile that Steve didn't see and couldn't see from their different angles.

"What'd y'all do?"

Soda finished up the car he'd been working on and closed the hood. "We got somethin' to eat… took a walk when it got dark…"

Steve chuckled. "No offense or nothin', but that sounds like somethin' straight outta an Elvis Presley movie, ya know that, right?"

Soda blew his comment off a bit. "Yeah, yeah… either way, I thought it was nice and Cherry thought it was real nice too."

"Did she kiss you?" Steve teased with a smirk on his face.

Soda rolled his eyes and let out a chuckle. "And to think people say I'm the one who ain't ever gonna grow up."

-/-/-

"It just don't seem like somethin' Sodapop would be doin'," Dallas said with a confused look on his face.

Dallas had somehow escaped after the whole epidemic with the cops and him robbing that store. To say it was an incredible escape would be a complete understatement. He came back a month or two after that night, a scar or two on his chest from the bullets that night; the scars were like white pills that had been crushed and made into two perfect little circles on his chest around where his heart was. When he came back, they all asked how he lived, how he escaped and a few other questions, he would just shrug and smirk would form on his face and he would say, "I know people." Ponyboy knew that Dallas always got what he wanted, and maybe he didn't really want to die that night.

As for what happened with Johnny that night, somehow the doctors had got his heart to start again. His doctor had described it as a miracle, considering his heart had actually stopped- but it was only for five minutes. The doctor had actually signed the papers, as proof that he had died. Five minutes after he signed the papers, a nurse had ran up to him saying that "the kid with dark hair and dark eyes woke up." They didn't know how, but somehow his heart had started to work again. Johnny had to go to a cardiologist every month, which would slowly lead to every two months, then three months, then six months, then once a year. Until the once a year started, the whole process- considering everything was working fine- would take about three to five years.

"I don't know, Dal… he had talked 'bout her an awful lot," Ponyboy said with a shrug.

"I get that. What I don't get is how did your brother think of a plan to trick a girl? No less, a Soc."

Ponyboy shrugged again and looked at Johnny, who also shrugged. "Maybe he likes her that much," Johnny said as he shrugged.

Dallas sighed, "Like I said before, I get that. It just don't seem like a plan that Sodapop would come up with that. As far as I could tell, he always treated every broad he came in contact with respect or whatever… it's just so outta character."

"Somebody once told me that people will do crazy things for love," Johnny said with a shrug.

Dallas merely shrugged at what he said.

-/-/-

Cherry hesitantly walked into the DX next to Evie. Soda and Steve's shift weren't over yet, so Evie thought they should go in and say hell. Evie had also hinted to Cherry about finding out about a possible second date that Cherry might have with Soda- in which Cherry's cheeks turned a bright shade of pink and she somehow managed to bite back her smile, which she had been doing a lot lately.

When Evie and Cherry first walked into the DX, neither Steve nor Sodapop was at the front counter. When the front door closed behind them, the bell above the door rang like a Christmas bell. Since the bell was somehow connected to something inside the garage, both Steve and Sodapop made their way to the counter. At first they looked around with confused expressions on their faces until Steve saw the two girls, nudged his best friend's shoulder- who looked at the two when he pointed them out- and his own smile formed.

"There's two of the best looking girls I've ever seen," Soda said with a smile as the four met up at the counter.

At this point, after her date with Soda, Cherry felt more comfortable around everyone. It's like her date with Soda had somehow loosened her and gave her this weird boost of confidence. Evie had told her things about Soda- nothing bad- and that he usually had that kind of effect on people.

Evie and Steve had gotten into their own conversation by now. "So Cherry," Sodapop started, gaining Cherry's attention, "I was thinking that maybe we could go out again or somethin'?"

Evie overheard and smirked at Cherry, who smiled and nodded at Soda. "I'd like that," she smiled at Soda.

His smile grew. "Great… I'll pick you up at Evie's house tomorrow at 5:30."

**Hi there! I know it's forever but that's cause I started my classes this past Monday, and next Monday, I officially become a LUOA Edge student (college courses start)! So that means even less updating! And if you read "Cherry Flavored Soda" it will be the same deal but that will probably be updated next week- but the same with the update speed will be for "The Power Of Love" and "Up In Flames"**

**Oh so yesterday I was with my second family (my two best friends Alex and Sara who are sisters and their little brother Steven and their mom and dad) and first we went to Steven's eye doctor appointment and while him and their dad were there- me, alex, sara, and their mom went to the general store where their mom made me let her pay for the few things I was going to buy (I always feel bad when they do that, ever since we first met two years ago on a trip we went to together with my old church) then we got ice cream then went to the Paramus Park Mall and the whole day was super fun! Their mom bought me an Elvis Presley pen XD the pen can't write, but I can wear it around my neck and it has a little movable elvis on it**

**Also, apparently my mom ordered me "Tex" (book version) cause literally none of the book stores in my area that I go to have it but I can't read it yet cause I'm still reading "Charleston" by John Jakes **** oh well**

**Anyway, hope you like the chapter, peace from all the hippies of the world! =^-^=**


	9. Chapter 8

**You've probably noticed that I have Marcia related to the Forman's from "That 70s Show", this is not a full crossover, it's the same way how I have Danny and Sandy from "Grease" in "To Love A Greaser", they're supportive, helpful characters. In this story, Marcia is related to Kitty, in "Cherry Flavored Soda", Cherry is related to Midge Pinciotti from "That 70s Show". Same thing there.**

"How does your friend feel?" Laurie, Marcia's little cousin, asked her.

Marcia looked at Laurie with a slightly confused expression. "What?"

"Your friend that you told me and Eric about. You said she was really sick. How is she?"

"Oh her! Oh, uh… I don't really know right now. She's back home in Oklahoma and I lost her phone number."

Laurie frowned for a moment then looked back up at Marcia. "When you go back and find out, could you call here to tell me how she's feeling?"

Marcia gave a weak smile. "Well, how 'bout I write you a letter instead? I know your daddy doesn't like to make long distance phone calls and I don't wanna get you in trouble," she chuckled. In response, Laurie smiled at her and nodded.

Laurie got up and went to greet her father- Red, who had just gotten back from work- as he pulled into their driveway. Marcia greeted him with a small smile and he nodded at her in acknowledgment. As Red sat with his daughter in the kitchen, Marcia continued into the living room where Red's wife Kitty- Marcia's mother's cousin- was sitting.

Marcia had always liked Kitty. She was nice, funny, helpful, and even a bit crazy to some extent if you asked Marcia- both a good crazy and a bad crazy once in a while- but usually good crazy. And Kitty could bake nearly anything and everything better than anyone else she knew, not including her own mother, of course. Though realize, they learned the basics and got little tips and tricks from the same person when they were growing up.

When she reached the living room, Marcia saw Kitty sitting on the couch with a book, yet watching her son Eric play with three other children. Of the three on the floor with her little cousin, there were two boys- one with curly hair like an afro, and one with straight hair- and a little girl with straight red hair. She recognized the little girl on the floor as Donna Pinciotti from next door, who she had met on her last family trip to Wisconsin to visit the Forman's. Donna was a tomboy, and Eric's best friend. The other two little boys on the floor though, she didn't recognize at all.

"Oh Marcia," Kitty said and smiled, "I didn't hear you come in. Come and sit down next to me on the couch." Kitty pat the spot on the couch next to her gently.

As she walked over to sit next to Kitty, Marcia heard Eric's friend with straight hair ask him, "Who's that girl with your mom?"

Eric looked up at his cousin then back at the other boy, "That's my cousin Marcia. Her and her parents stay with us in the summer every year."

The boy with straight hair looked back up at Marcia, got up from the floor and leaned against the couch arm next to her. "Hi there," he said with a small smirk, or at least as much as a smirk a seven year old could do, "My name's Kelso."

Kitty and Marcia chuckled and exchanged looks before turning back to _Kelso_. Marcia decided to at least humor him for a little. "Hi Kelso," she smiled, "My name's Marcia."

"Come 'ere often?" he tried.

_He is too young to be flirting_, Marcia thought, holding back a chuckle. "I have a boyfriend, Kelso."

Kelso looked down and let out a breath. "It's a shame," he mumbled and went back to his friends on the floor. The boy with curly hair smirked at Kelso and she heard him say, "Burn."

Kitty chuckled and turned to Marcia. "I'm sorry, sweetheart, did you need anything?"

"Actually, can I talk to you for a minute or two?" Marcia asked her.

"Of course." Kitty turned to her son and his friends. "Eric, why don't the four of you go and play in the basement?" The little boy nodded at his mother and got up, the three others following him, Donna saying a quiet hello to Marcia. Kitty turned back to Marcia, "So what'd you want to talk to me about?"

"I need your advice on something."

"Of course."

"If you had a friend who was sick, like, really sick, and you had to leave the state, how would you feel?"

Kitty nodded slowly in understanding. "Is this the friend that Eric and Laurie told me about?"

Marcia nodded and explained the whole situation to her mother's cousin. She started with how Cherry had been staying with her and her family, all the way to when Cherry had to go to the hospital and how she had basically left Sodapop in charge of her or at least to keep an eye on her. She also explained how Cherry had been really depressed and upset for a long time, ever since her parents skipped town and there on after. She even told Kitty about everything that had happened a few months to a year earlier with Sodapop's younger brother and his quiet friend after the movies that night, making sure to tell her no one held a grudge anymore.

"That poor girl," Kitty mumbled sadly and she shook her head.

Marcia nodded. "I feel terrible for what I did," she sighed.

"Before she got amnesia, did your friend ever talk about this boy… oh, what was his name… Sodapop?" Kitty tried to hide her confusion about his name.

"She did. We would see him where he works in town. Sometimes if she was feeling more down than usual, I'd take her just to say hi and to talk to him and she would always perk up a bit."

"And her parents don't know a thing about any of this?"

Marcia shook her head. "Nope… and none of us have any idea where they are."

"I can see why this girl was so depressed," Kitty mumbled and turned back to Marcia, "So what do you need my opinion on?"

"At this stage of the game, what should I do?"

"Alright… when you get back to Tulsa, see if she got her memory back or not. If she doesn't, wait till she does. When she is completely better, explain the situation to her… and apologize to her. That's all I can say."

Marcia gave a weak smile. "Thanks, Kitty."

Kitty smiled back, "You're welcome… now come one, your mother and I had plans to do some baking."

-/-/-

"Put this on," Evie told Cherry.

Evie was helping Cherry get reading for her second date with Sodapop. The two girls were in Evie's shared bedroom, Evie going through her closet and her clothes drawers. The two girls had already established that they wore the same size clothing and lucky for them, they were the same _size_, which made life easier to some extent.

It was decided that Cherry would wear her hair out, letting her long rede hair fall over her shoulders like a curtain. Evie had pulled out a pair of her jeans where the waist reached a little over Cherry's belly button. The shirt that Evie gave to her was a button up blouse with nearly no sleeve at all and in the front at the bottom had two long edges to be tied into a bow or not. The shirt was red with white polka dots.

"Do you have a sweater or somethin'?" Cherry asked Evie after she looked in the mirror.

Evie nodded, walked over to her closet, oulled out a white cardigan and handed it to Cherry. "Just curious," Evie said, "Why do ya need that sweater?"

Cherry turned to her as she put on the sweater. "For some reason, it feels weird _not_ to wear one."

Evie shrugged. "Whatever floats your boat."

Both girls jumped a few minutes later when they heard a car horn outside. Both Cherry and Evie exchanged looks then ran to the window. Evie slid the window pane open and they poked their heads out. When they did, Cherry smiled at the scene: a pickup truck and someone with light hair coming out from the driver's side, and when they got out, waving their arms frantically and a smile on his face. "Cherry!" he called to the window, then started to- at least attempt- sing a part of _"You Are My Lucky Star"_ from the 1952 film _Singin' in the Rain_, holding back some laughter the whole time and Cherry held back her own laugh.

Evie chuckled, "There is absolutely nothing that Sodapop Curtis will not try."

**Awwwwwwww :3 ain't he a romantic?**

**Ok so I deleted "Up In Flames" from here, mostly cause nearly nobody reads "St Elmo's Fire" fanfic so I was just like "Why should I leave this up and spend time on it when I can be working on a real story that I wanna publish" (Which I am doing) so yeah, the only active stories I'm currently working on here is this one, "Cherry Flavored Soda" and "The Power of Love"**

**Also, you probably saw my note at the beginning of the story, so there's that if you are reading both this one and "Cherry Flavored Soda"**

**Also- at the end of the chapter before this one, I have it that Cherry and Soda are going on a date and at the end of this one as well- but I don't know what they should for their date! I've never been in a relationship! (Yes, I'm going to be sixteen in two weeks and I've never had a boyfriend ok? I don't care, most of my friends are guys anyway and all the guys I've had crushes on were too hard to get to, but enough of Sarah Beth's screwy love life) so please, if anyone has a suggestion for their date, please message me or put it in the reviews, anything! I'm desperate here**

**Also, for that ending, I was trying to think of some romantic thing but like Shakespeare or something but I don't like shakepseare at all and nearly every book I've read was written after the 1960s (excluding the outsiders and I think one other S.E. Hinton book? I don't know, I may be wrong) so I'm trying to think of romantic movies I love and the first one that popped into my head was the ending scene in **_**Singin' in the Rain**_** when Debbie Reynolds is running out of theater and Gene Kelly is like "Someone stop that girl!" and he starts singing to her that song **_**"You are my lucky star"**_** (not ot be confused with **_**"lucky star**_**" by Madonna) so yeah, if y'all can also think of any romantic book scenes or movie scenes from anything before 1966, please tell me, thanks**

**So yeah, anyway, hope you liked the chapter! Peace from all the hippies of the world! =^-^=**


	10. Chapter 9

"So what're we gonna do tonight?" Cherry asked Soda as they drove away from Evie's house.

"We're gonna paint the town with red and blue polka dots; every building, every car, every place and everything is gonna be covered in red and blue polka dots," Soda teased.

Cherry laughed, "Soda, c'mon what're we doin'?"

He laughed. "Alright, alright… I figured we go to the movies, cause you always used to like to go to the movie theatre, then maybe grab a bite to eat in town or at the strip." He smiled his usual charming smile.

The two sat in silence for a little while- not an awkward silence- which gave the redhead time to think and try to remember something. Anything.

"_I came here to see a movie and I'm gonna see a movie," she heard in her own voice that she said to a girl with short, dark hair as they sat down somewhere._

Cherry shook her head as a confused look found its way to her face. She looked out the window. Where did that come from? Who was that girl? Where was she and that girl? What movie were they seeing? Why was she so annoyed? Cherry shook her head again and continued to look out the window, hoping that the events before that memory would play in her head. When Soda had questioned whether everything was alright, she plastered a smile on her face and said to him, "Just trying to see if I can remember anything."

-/-/-

After Cherry had answered him, Soda felt that same feeling of guilt that he had started to become somewhat accustomed to. If he hadn't pulled into the parking lot of the movie theatre, he would've told her the truth right then and there.

The theatre they went to occasionally had small events that for an entire week, they would play movies that were released ten years prior to the current year. It did this usually three of four times a year. They were playing some from 1957 that night: _The Bridge on the River Kwai_, _An Affair to Remember, The Wings of Eagles, Band of Angels, Loving You _and the one they were going to see: _Jailhouse Rock_ starring the all popular singer and actor, Elvis Presley.

Soda was not particularly fond of seeing a movie, but for some reason, he enjoyed Elvis Presley films and most comedy films. He had felt kinda bad about that for three years now, ever since the first time that his parents had asked him to take his little brother to the movies because both them and Darry could not do it. He wasn't fully sure which movie it was, but Soda felt that it was _Goldfinger_, but he wasn't one hundred percent sure. All he could remember from that trip was that he nearly got himself and his little brother kicked out of the movie theatre cause he couldn't keep still. Ever since then, Ponyboy had never asked his older brother to take him to him to the movies alone, excluding movies like _Father Goose _or _The Incredible Mr. Limpet._

"Did we see a lot of movies together?" Cherry asked him, taking him from his thoughts.

Soda shook his head. "Nah, not really," he answered, "If I remember right, we only went to see a few Elvis movies or a few drive in theatres for those movies."

"Which Elvis movies have we seen?"

He thought for a moment, trying to remember the movies that Elvis released from 1964 on that he had seen. "_Viva Las Vegas, It Happened at the World's Fair, Fun in Acapulco,_ and _Kissin' Cousins_ I think is it."

"How long have we been goin' out?"

"Four years."

-/-/-

Cherry smiled a bit as Soda led her into the theatre after they got out of the car, her hand in his. He had his own usual smile on his face as they walked and she had her own smile and her cheeks were nearly as red as her hair. When they walked past a group of people that looked about their age, maybe a little younger or maybe a little older, all with flasks in their hands that obviously held alcohol in them, she cringed and for some reason felt her heart start to beat faster in her chest.

_A boy with curly hair stood in front of her. She remembered the smell of alcohol coming from his breath. "Just because we got a little drunk last time-" the boy slurred a bit and his voice was raised._

_That angered her. "A little? You called reeling and passing out in the streets 'a little'?" she demanded._

Cherry's eyes widened and she looked at Sodapop. The boy in that slight memory was _not _him… was it? From what she could tell about herself since she was released from the hospital, she hated alcohol; the smell of it, the look of it, what is did to people and just everything about it- and that memory there proved her hatred for that damned fermented home wrecker in a bottle. If Soda drank, she couldn't go on another date with him. Though, Soda had said they'd been going out for four years. He probably didn't in that case, but she had to be sure.

Cherry stopped walking and looked down at the ground. "Soda," she said quietly, "Hold on a sec." She started to shake.

Soda felt her hand start to shake and he looked at her nervously. "Are you alright, Cherry?" he asked.

"Um, Soda… do you… have you ever…"

"Cherry, what's wrong? It's like you saw a ghost or somethin'. You feel alright?"

"I had a memory… I was talking to someone, I don't know who… but I need to know… do you drink?"

"Alcohol?"

She nodded. "Y-yeah…"

He shook his head. "No, I don't. I never will. To be honest, that stuff scares me to death cause of somethin' that happened to Ponyboy and Johnny."

"So you don't drink? You promise?"

"I promise you I don't drink that stuff… look, maybe we should skip the movie, you don't look so good."

She shook her head like a stubborn child. "I'm fine, I just got real nervous and scared for a moment, that's all. I'm fine, really."

"Cherry, please let me take you home or somethin'. It's not good for you to be like this since you just got out the hospital not that long ago."

She sighed in defeat and nodded, "Alright, fine." She was still reluctant, yet she knew that he was right. All the shaking from her nerves and just her nerves in general had started to give her a headache and she started to feel sick and dizzy. She allowed him to take her back to the car and she laid down in the back seat as he drove back to Evie's house.

-/-/-

Evie yawned as she sat down on the couch after turning on the television. _Why am I so tired?_ She thought when she sat down.

The whole day, Evie had felt terrible. In the morning, she had felt nauseous. Then an hour or two later, she was starving. The thing was, she was hungry for something that wasn't in the house. She had driven to the store as fast as she could to get what she wanted, took it home and ate it in five minutes. Then about an hour and a half after eating, she barely made it to the bathroom- where she was for ten minutes. Luckily for her, she had tied her long black hair back when she woke up in the morning since she had felt so lousy. She had to run back to the bathroom right after Soda and Cherry had left for their date, where she was for another ten minutes. She guessed it was something that she had eaten.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a knock on the door. Evie slowly got up from the couch and went to open the door. When she did, Sodapop stood there with Cherry, who was pale and shaking slightly. Evie's eyes widened a bit for a quick moment. "What happened to her?" she asked as they brought the redhead to the couch.

"She had a memory that really freaked her out," Soda answered, "Then she asked if I ever drank or if I do. You know I don't, but she hasn't calmed down yet so I brought her back here." He heard Cherry groan as she put her hands on her head.

Evie felt something in the back of her throat and she tried to swallow a bit. "Alright, I'll call you later to tell you how she's doin'," she said, trying to get him to the leave. Thankfully, what she had said had worked and he nodded and left the house. She closed the door behind him and ran to the nearest bathroom in her house. By then, Cherry was asleep on the couch, with a pained expression on her face.

About two minutes later, Evie slumped down against the bathroom wall and clutched her stomach. She knew she wasn't done, but she was for now. She decided she'd go the emergency room. At this point, she was scared that something was really wrong with her. When she finished in the bathroom, she dialed Steve's number. "_Hello?"_ she heard in his voice.

"Steve? It's Evie," she said shakily.

"_Oh hey, Evie. What's goin' on? You sound weird, like you're nervous or soemthin'."_

"Uh, Steve, could you take me to the hospital? I think there's something wrong with me."

"_Oh gosh, yeah of course. I'll be right over. Just hold tight_." With that she hung up and went back to the bathroom, just in case.

**Poor Evie. :( this whole thing is gonna end bad for her in the end, I'm a bad person blah blah blah**

**Ok, so I will not be doing any sort of updating this Wednesday (September 16) and that is because that day is my birthday! I will be going out to Cracker Barrel with my mom and my tow best friends and possibly their family! Also, my sweet 16 was this past Saturday and it was so fun and I have no shame that I had it at build a bear workshop and I named my bear Charles after a character from "north and south"**

**Anyway, another reason I may not update anything soon is cause I found out a very close family friend died today. He was in his late 70s and didn't take care of himself but it was impossible not to love this guy. He's actually the guy who turned my dad onto Elvis Presley, which led to me loving Elvis. I remember when this guy sang "Hound Dog" over the phone to me to make me laugh about a year and a half ago. So: Rest in Peace Gary Selman, thank you for everything you've done over your life for me and being the one to start the church I grew up in and have recently started going back to where I have made so many friendships.**

**Anyway, hope you liked the chapter, peace from all the hippies of the world! =^-^= (please excuse any typos, for some reason I can't type today)**


	11. Chapter 10

Cherry yawned and rubbed her eyes when she woke up. She had a confused look on her face until she looked around and found herself on Evie's couch. She covered her face with her hands when she remember what happened and how- in her mind- she had ruined her date with Sodapop. "I feel like a huge jerk," she groaned into one of the pillows on the couch.

Cherry jumped when she heard someone knocking on the door. She got up and went to answer the door and when she opened it, there stood Evie's boyfriend and Soda's best friend. He looked both scared and nervous at the same time. He looked down at his shuffling feet for a quick moment then back at her. "Hey Cherry, is, uh… is Evie still here?" he asked her in a nervous tone.

Cherry thought for a moment, not knowing the situation. "I think so," she answered unsurely and in a slightly weak voice, "Everything's sort of a blur, so I'm not really sure."

"Do ya mind if I look around a bit for her?"

Cherry shook her head and let him in. "Of course not, come in."

Cherry followed as Steve walked in and through the house. As they looked for Evie, he told her everything that had happened. When they couldn't find her anywhere on the first floor, they made their way up the stairs and to the second floor, where Steve finished telling the redhead what happened- based on what he knew.

The two got to the second floor and decided to check the room that Evie and Cherry shared. When they got there, they saw a figure sitting on the edge of the bed opposite of where they were standing. Since this girl had jet black hair, and it wasn't Esther, it was obvious that it was Evie. She sat there not moving, just twiddling her thumbs and playing with her hands, which were also shaking. Cherry had started to walk over to her but Steve held up his hand slowly and signaled for her to wait outside the door, just in case. Cherry nodded and listened in, just to make sure everything was at least somewhat alright. "Evie," she heard him say in a gentle and quiet tone, something she had never heard before, "Hey, you ok?"

There was no answer from her, at least no audible one.

"You called me, remember? You said you were scared. You wanted me to take me to the hospital?"

Cherry heard movement, which gave her somewhat of an answer. It let her know that Evie was still communicating with them and was responding to human contact. When the two walked out the room, Cherry saw that Evie was pale and she noticed her figure shaking. "Cherry, can you stay here with Esther? I know my parents ain't gonna come back to town for a while, but if they ever found out I left Esther home alone, they'd kill me," she said, trying to let out a slight chuckle, "If you want, you can call Soda to come over."

Cherry nodded, "Yeah, I'll stay here with her."

"Thanks, Cherry." The two left the upstairs and went down the stairs and outside to Steve's car.

Cherry went back downstairs and over to the house phone and dialed Soda's number, or at least the one he had given her. She had never actually called it before. When he answered her call, he bombarded her with questions, mostly on how she was feeling. She had answered as many as she could then asked him if he could come over after she explained everything that she knew had happened. He answered her "yes of course" then hung up.

-/-/-

Marcia pulled a photo out of her bag of her and Cherry. The picture had been taken a little over a year ago, before that night at the drive in. Neither of them had gone back since, unless Cherry had gone while Marcia was gone. She couldn't think of any times after that where they had gone back, at least. It just brought back memories, mostly _bad _memories that she would always try to get out of her head and block out for the rest of her life.

_Maybe there was something I could've done but didn't to prevent it all_, she thought. Marcia quickly shook the thought out of her head. Even if there was something she could've done that night, it's not like she could go back in time to change anything. The past was the past, and nothing could change that. For some reason, everything that happened had a reason for happening, yet she wasn't quite sure why. So there must've been a reason why-

Wait a minute.

Marcia started to smile as she thought, _Everything happens for a reason. That means, Cherry was supposed to get amnesia for who knows how long. And I asked Sodapop to take care of her and watch her, that means something was supposed to happen with them or that something will come out of it. This is all supposed to happen._

For the first time since her trip to visit family, Marcia didn't feel guilty.

-/-/-

Evie slumped down in the waiting room area chair in the emergency room, her head leaning on top of Steve's right shoulder. His arm was holding her as close to him as he could without making her feel any more uncomfortable or hurting her any more than she already was hurting or how uncomfortable she was.

When Evie's name was called by a nurse, the two looked up and followed the nurse to a smaller room. In the smaller room, Evie was asked questions about her general health and then her current condition, then brought her to a small private room where they were told to wait for a doctor to come in. "Feelin' any better than before?" Steve asked his girlfriend while they waited for a doctor.

Evie shrugged a bit. "I guess so," she answered in a quiet voice, which was rare for her, "My stomach still kinda hurts, but I'm better." The two sat quietly before Evie spoke up again. "Steve, what if there's somethin' really wrong with me?" she asked in a nervous tone.

Steve's heart started to beat a little faster in his chest. "Don't say that, you're gonna be fine."

"But what if-"

"No." His voice was louder this time and his tone was a bit more stern than her ever intended, making Evie jump a bit. He sighed and looked down, "I'm sorry." His voice was soft this time and near a whisper.

Evie nodded at him. "It's ok. I'm scared too."

-/-/-

"Hey," Soda greeted the redhead quietly as he walked into the house, "How's Evie?"

Cherry closed the door behind him and tucked her hands under her arms as she shrugged. "I'm not really sure," she answered, "Steve came here to get her to take her to the hospital. What I told you on the phone is all I know."

He nodded in understanding. "How're you feeling?"

"I'm ok now. My head kinda hurts a little, but I'll live… speaking of that, I'm real sorry about what happened before."

"No, no, no, it's fine. Really, it is."

"I don't know why I freaked out so much like I did about the whole thing. For some reason, it just freaked me out and I feel like a jerk about-"

"Cherry, don't worry 'bout it, ok? It's alright. As long as you're alright."

The usual feeling of guilty filled all through Soda's body again. He had gotten somewhat used to the guilty feeling by now, but every time he got that way he felt lousy. At some points, depending on the situation, the feeling even made him feel feverish. It would go away with some time, but until that happened, he still hated the feeling.

_If I could go back_, he thought, _I wouldn't have done any of this shit._

Cherry didn't deserve any of the things that happened to her, and he thought he was just making it worse for her.

-/-/-

Steve sat in a seat in the waiting room. His elbows were rested on his knees, his head in his hands. His leg bounced up and down slight due to nervous impulse, causing his body to bounce slightly along with his leg. The only part of his body that was faster than his shaking leg was his heart, which felt like it was going to burst out of his chest and onto the waiting room floor.

Steve jumped when he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. When he looked up he saw a middle aged man. The man had brown hair that had gray hairs spread out throughout it due to aging, and the same thing went for his facial hair. He looked to be average height and was a bit overweight, but not too much for what his height body structure were. He wore a gray hat, a black hoodie and a blue denim jacket. "You ok, son?" the man asked him.

Steve shrugged. "I dunno," he sighed, "My girlfriend's back there being tested."

"If you don't mind me asking, what's wrong with her?"

"We don't know. She just called me before to tell me that she thought somehtin' was wrong with her and she wanted to come her to find out."

"Where are her parents? Or your parents?"

"Her parents are outta town. And my parents, my mom don't live with us and my dad is just an ass."

The man nodded. "What's your name, son?"

"Randle… uh, Steve Randle."

"Got a picture of your girlfriend?"

Steve nodded, took out his wallet and handed the picture in his wallet to the man. "This is her. Her name's Evie."

"Good lookin' girl you got yourself, Steve."

He gave a small smile, "Thanks. I uh… I really love her."

The man handed him back the picture. "Well, Steve, I think you two'll be alright. I also think you and Evie are gonna be just fine too." He had a small smile on his face.

Steve gave the man another small smile. "Uh, thanks." Steve cleared his throat, "So, uh… what's your name and why are you here? If you don't mind me askin' either."

The man laughed, "I'll answer. Name's Angelo Robertson, but people call me Angel. Mostly they call me that cause, how weird does _Angelo Robertson_ sound? That's what happens when you got an Italian mother and Scottish father." He laughed again, then hesitantly held out his left hand, which had a bandage wrapped around it and a slight red tint on one area. "And why I'm here, let's just say, I like to think I'm a handy man for my wife when somethin' breaks in the house."

Steve let out a chuckle. "Good to meet you, Angel." Both turned when the nurse called for whoever was waiting for Evie Smith. "That's her, I gotta go. Thanks for talkin' with me Angel. I hope I can see you again, my girlfriend would like you."

"I think we'll see each other again sometime," Angel smiled as Steve got up and followed the nurse. "I know we will," he said to himself.

**Wow this chapter was long. And very dramatic. This story is just very dramatic oh gosh, I never thought I would end up writing something so dramatic, and this story was a request. Wow.**

**Ok, if you couldn't tell, **_**Angelo Robertson**_** is an angel. Like you know how in movies, there'll be an angel for a character in distress at a hospital and then after everything is better, they'll ask the nurse or doctor, "oh what happened to that guy?" and no one else saw him. So yeah, that's who Angel is. He will show up again a few times in this story, I hope you guy don't mind that. **

**Oh, by the way- how many of you saw **_**Grandfathered **_**and **_**The Grinder**_** last night?! I DID, DID ANYONE ELSE HERE?! Me and my two best friends (they're sisters, so that makes life actually easier since they live in the same house and they have the best sister relationship I've ever seen, which is awesome) anyway, we were talking after the shows last night and we all agree that **_**Grandfathered**_** was funnier than **_**The Grinder**_**, but both were good. We all kinda were shocked cause we all thought **_**The Grinder**_** was very dramatic- along with the few funny parts- and that we all expected it to be funnier based on commercials. We're all gonna still watch both, but yeah. Just saying and if you watched either show PLEASE MESSAGE ME I WANNA TALK ABOUT IT BUT NOT GIVE SPOILERS TO THOSE WHO DIDN'T WATCH**

**Anyway… peace from all the hippies of the world! =^-^=**


	12. Chapter 11

"I can't believe this," Evie said nervously, "My parents are gonna kill me… what am I gonna do?"

Steve sighed and had a nervous look on his face. "Well, when do your folks get back home?" he asked her.

"Not for months, but what about my sister? Even though my parents won't be home, she will be."

"So?"

"So! She'll notice! It's not like this is somethin' I can hide for more than a couple months!" She let out a groan. "Oh gosh, what am I gonna do…"

Evie had gotten news that was happy to a married couple, but dreadful and scary to a teenage couple: she was pregnant. She was eighteen years old, which did make her legally an adult, but she was only going into her senior year in high school. She was too young to be having a baby! It didn't help the situation at all either that her and Steve weren't a married couple- or ten years older.

Evie knew that the baby was Steve's, so that somewhat helped. She had never slept with anyone else other than Steve, and that wasn't as many times as most people would think it would be. So far, to Evie's personal comfort, Steve had promised that he would stay with her the whole time. That did comfort her a bit, but that didn't really make her any less anxious, unfortunately.

Evie sat down on the nearest bench, leaned her elbows on her knees and buried her head in her hands. "I'm gonna be in so much trouble," she groaned.

Steve sat down next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders in a comforting way. "Maybe it won't be as bad as you think," he said.

"We're eighteen, Steve! We can't raise a kid, we're still just kids! My mom always told me that if I ever got pregnant before I ever got married I would be in huge trouble. Look where we are now!"

"Evie, maybe you should try to calm down-"

"_Calm down?!_ How do you expect me to calm down? I'm having a baby at eighteen years old, how do you expect me to stay calm?"

"Oh, and I'm so honky dory about this whole thing? Don't you think I'm scared too right now? You don't think I don't know how old we are? I'm only sayin' you should calm down cause that doctor said you should," Steve said, starting to calm down.

Evie sighed and nodded, "Fine… fine, alright? There's nothin' we can do about it now, right? Might as well accept the whole thing."

-/-/-

"I hope Evie's alright," Cherry said in a nervous tone, "They've been gone for hours."

Cherry was genuinely nervous about Evie. During the past couple weeks while she had been talking with Evie since she was staying, the two had become pretty close. Sure, sometimes it was a bit harder for the two to strike up a conversation, but that was due to Cherry's unsure feeling she would sometimes get, considering she still couldn't remember anything about her life before she woke up in that hospital- of course with the exception of talking to Ponyboy about sunsets and that she apparently didn't like alcohol more than she thought.

"Steve said he'd call to tell us what happened when they found out what was wrong. When I left my house for there, Darry said he'd tell Steve to here if called my house," Soda said.

"Do you think Evie's alright?" Cherry asked.

Soda wasn't sure what he thought. "I think she'll be alright."

As if on cue, the phone began to ring. Cherry got up from her spot on the couch and walked over to answer the phone, Soda following behind her so that they could both hear the phone. She picked up the phone and held it up so that they both could get to the receiver and the speaker of the phone. "Hello?" Cherry said.

"_Cherry? This is Steve. Darry told me to call here cuase Soda was here?"_ Steve asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, we're both here," Soda said, "What's goin' on? Is Evie alright?"

"_Uh, yeah, you could say that."_

Cherry and Soda both exchanged confused looks. "What do you mean _you could say that_?"

Cherry and Soda heard a rustling type sound coming from the other end. "_Cherry, this is Evie,_" she said, "_And what he means is that… I'm pregnant."_

Both Cherry and Soda's eyes widened at what she said. "Oh my gosh," Cherry mumbled.

Everyone was silent for a minute or so until Evie spoke up again. "_Cherry? Soda? You two still there?"_

"Uh yeah. Yeah, we're still here… um, are you sure that you're pregnant?"

The two heard Evie sigh from the other line. "_Yeah, I'm sure… look, could you two meet us at the Dingo to talk? I called a friend of Esther's and they said she could stay over the night. If you two could drive her that would be great."_

Cherry looked at Soda, who nodded. "Yeah, we could drive her," Soda answered, "And we'll be right over." After he said that, the line went dead.

Soda and Cherry went upstairs to tell Esther to get ready to go to her friend's house. She questioned who and why she was sleeping over a friend's house, they answered that her friend wanted her over and that they had called the house when Evie was home. At first she seemed unconvinced but she went to pack clothes and everything else she would need for overnight. On their way to the Dingo, when Esther was ready, Soda and Cherry dropped her off at her friend's house then headed to the Dingo.

-/-/-

It took both couples a total of ten minutes to get to the Dingo. Steve and Evie had gotten them all a booth to sit at since they got there first, a minute later, Soda and Cherry joining them at the both, sitting across from them.

"So you're absolutely, one hundred percent sure about this?" Cherry asked quietly when they sat down.

Both Evie and Steve nodded. "Doctor says so. I even went to the store and bought five tests just to reassure myself. They were all positive," Evie sighed, folded her arms and placed her head down on the table.

Everyone sat quietly for a moment. "What're you gonna tell your family?" Soda asked.

Evie shrugged, her head still down. "I don't have a clue," she said, her voice a bit muffled.

Cherry looked at Evie. "Uh, Evie, would you come with me to the bathroom real quick? I gotta ask you somethin' that I really don't think the guys would wanna hear," she said. Evie looked up at her, nodded and the two left the booth and headed toward the bathroom.

Soda nodded toward his best friend, gaining his attention. "What're you two gonna do?" he asked.

Steve ran his hands over his face. "I don't know," he sighed, "To be honest, I'm scared to death."

"Ya gonna stay with her?" He silently hoped his friend would.

"Course I am. And not just cause it's my kid. I once told Evie I loved her, and she said it back. Now you know I ain't a romantic, but I meant it and so did she. I'm stayin' with her the whole time."

Soda smiled a bit at his best friend's answer.

-/-/-

When Cherry had aksed Evie to go to the bathroom to talk, she had used the excuse that the guys wouldn't wanna hear it. Of course, that was a lie. Her real reason was that she guessed that Evie was in real need of a girl to girl talk on the situation. Not to mention, she probably wanted some sort of real comfort at the moment.

"What'd you wanna ask me?" Evie asked when they got to the bathroom.

"You ok?" Cherry asked in a soft voice.

She had expected Evie to just act brace and tough. She was a bit shocked when the girl she had always seen as a tough Greaser girl broke down. Evie covered her face with her hands, slid down against the wall and landed on the floor. She buried her face and hands into her knees and began to sob. The redhead sat down next to her on the floor, comforting her as best as she could.

"I don't know what I'm gonna do," Evie was able to get out, slightly muffled by her hands, "I mean, my parents are gonna kill me, people are gonna call me a slut, not to mention I'll have a kid to raise. I won't be able to finish high school this year cause I'll have a kid and I'll have to drop out… this is gonna ruin my whole life."

Cherry tried to think of something to say that might help her friend, but the only thing she could think of to do was to let Evie cry on her shoulder.

**This was so dramatic and I always promised myself I would never write anything dramatic, whether it was fanfiction or not, and I made that promise to myself in eighth grade three years ago. (I'm a junior in high school now)… though I also promised myself ever since they stopped playing "All My Children" that my mom used to watch that I would never get into a soap opera, and now I watch "Days of our Lives" everyday now so we see where that went.**

**Speaking of days of our lives, I was watching yesterday's episode and James Read's character got arrested cause he was set up (I'm not saying for what) and he looked at the other character with what me and my mom call "crazy eyes" and I was sitting there like "I will never be able to watch north and south the same again" cause James Read was in the mini series version of the North and South book trilogy by John Jakes and he played Patrick Swayze's best friend. I can never watch those the same again now.**

**Anyway, so how is everyone? **

**Ok, hope you enjoyed this chapter, peace from all the hippies of the world! =^-^=**


	13. Chapter 12

**By the way, I accidentally put two different times for how long Cherry and Soda had been going out (at least his answer): one and a half months, and four years (that's a huge difference), just keep it at four years cause I did the whole thing with one of their dates and everything so it's four years, I apologize**

After Evie was all cried out and calmed down, her and Cherry went back to where Steve and Sodapop were sitting. "You ok?" Steve asked his girlfriend quietly when the two girls got back to the booth. She nodded and said a quiet "yeah".

Cherry tried to think of something that would help Evie, but nothing came to mind. She didn't know what it was like to be in her situation… at least she didn't think she ever had been.

-/-/-

That night when Evie went to bed, she slept on her back instead of her stomach, which is what she had done nearly her whole life. The reason she slept on her back was because, at this point, she was afraid to lie on her stomach.

When Evie was at the hospital that day, the doctor said she was nine and a half weeks and that was the reason she had been so sick during the day. He said that since she hadn't had any symptoms or anything earlier like most women that it was a sudden response her body had to the whole thing. That's why it was so out of the blue. And the fact that she was as far as she was and had nothing was the reason why it happened throughout the course of the day. He guessed that she would be fine in about a day or two.

By now, Evie had realized that she should probably start doing a few things differently in her everyday life. For example, she should definitely avoid going to Buck Merrill's parties and avoid alcohol entirely. On occasion she would smoke, so she figured she should stop that too. Then, she had already started to sleep on her back due to her fear that if she slept on her stomach that she would either hurt herself or the person inside her… or both.

When Evie and Cherry had gotten back to the house, they both went to bed. Sleep came easily to the redhead, but to the girl whose hair was as dark as a raven, that was another story. Due to her uneasy state of mind, and the fact that she had slept on her stomach instead of her back all her life, sleep didn't come easy. It's not that she wasn't tired, in fact she was exhausted, but she just couldn't fall asleep. She had guessed another contributor to it was… her situation.

_It can only get better from here_, Evie thought, _at least I hope so._

-/-/-

The following day, Soda and Cherry thought they should try what their date from the previous night was supposed to be. They went to the theater, bought tickets for _Jailhouse Rock_ and went inside. This time around, as not to upset Cherry, Soda directed her away from anyone around who had any type of alcohol

During the entire film, everything went smoothly. Cherry hadn't remember anything that would freak her out, and Soda hadn't gotten that guilty feeling. Both of them had enjoyed the film and each other's company, both during the film and each when they went to go get something to eat after the film. After they got something to eat, Cherry and Soda went for a walk. It was a relaxing activity and the doctor had said she might remember things a bit easier while she was relaxed and had her mind clear of anything hectic that was currently going on in her life.

"_Your brother Sodapop, does he work at a gasoline station? A DX, I think?" she heard in her own voice._

_She recognized the people she was talking to as Ponyboy and Johnny. "Yeah," Ponyboy answered._

"_Man, your brother is one doll. I might have guessed you were brothers- you look alike."_

Cherry gave a confused look and she glanced over to her right at Sodapop. In this memory, she knew it was his younger brother Ponyboy. She really did think they looked alike to some extent, you could tell they were related. _Why does Ponyboy show up so much?_ She wondered to herself as they walked. She decided not to ask Soda about or something like it. At least not until she remembered a bit more. _It's not like I like Ponyboy that way,_ she thought.

-/-/-

"So you really think this all was meant to happen?" Lily asked Ponyboy.

Lily- which was short for Liliana- was Two-Bit's kid sister. The two were about two to three years apart in their ages. She looked exactly her older brother, except her features were feminine while his were masculine of course. Unlike her older brother, she was quiet and reserved, at least until she got to know you better and was comfortable around her. That's when she would start to act like her older brother. She was also more serious about school, like, as serious as Darry Curtis was about school.

Lily and Ponyboy hung out a lot at school. They were both sophomores in high school by now, except he was a year younger than her since he was able to skip the eighth grade. They both did extra-curricular activities, mostly a sports team. Ponyboy did varsity track, Lily was on the varsity girls' volleyball team. Not to mention how she participated at the only 'female-only' boxing gym in town. It was right on the edge of the East Side and where Town started, which worked since only girls from the East Side ever went there.

Ponyboy and Lily weren't officially boyfriend and girlfriend, but they had been seeing each other for about two months at this point. They were each other's first date, first kiss, and pretty much first everything with the exception of whatever they both believed were only for married couples.

Ponyboy nodded. "Yeah, I think so," he answered with a slight shrug, "I mean, I could be wrong, but I do think that."

Lily nodded. "I get it. It just seems real weird to me, ya know? The fact that Cherry was meant to try and kill herself and get amnesia just so her and Soda could get together. It's just a weird scenario, ya know? It seems too complicated," she shrugged, "And painful."

"I know it is, but I don't think people can control those sorts of things. But ever since my mom and dad were in that accident, I've always liked to believe that certain things happen for a reason."

"So, like, when my dad left, that was supposed to happen? That kind of thing?" It didn't come out bitter or sad, just genuinely curious as to make her own connection.

Ponyboy nodded a bit. "I guess so. I mean, like I said, I could be wrong."

Lily thought for a moment and nodded. "It still sounds somewhat odd to me, but it somehow makes sense to me."

-/-/-

For some reason, Cherry had remembered a lot in the park they went to. She remembered things that seemed to happen more recently and things that seemed to be no more than two years old.

"_Cherry?" a girl with dark hair who looked like that girl Marcia said, "Don't do this. Please don't."_

_The next thing she saw was a somewhat busy street, then it turned to go back inside the building, then everything went black._

Cherry jumped a bit when everything went black. Her heart started to beat a bit faster in her chest. _Why'd that happen?_ She thought with a confused look. She felt someone or something slightly touch or nudge her arm. She looked over and saw that it was Soda and his hand was on her upper arm. He had a concerned look on his face. "Cherry, you alright?" he asked her.

"Uh, yeah," Cherry answered unsurely, "Yeah, just um… just somethin' I kinda remembered."

"What do you mean _kinda_?"

"I'm not really sure… everything kinda went black. Kinda spooked me, I guess. No big deal." She shrugged it off a bit.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. It was probably the last thing that happened before I was in the hospital, that's all."

Soda nodded a bit unsurely, but decided to take her word. "Alright," he caved.

The two continued to walk for a little while longer, talking as they walked, then Soda walked her back to Evie's house. Right before Cherry opened the door to go inside the house, Soda stopped her nervously. "Uh, I was wondering if you would… if you would be my girlfriend?" he asked her, "Well, would like, continue being my girlfriend?" His ears started to turn red a bit out of embarrassment and his cheeks were slightly pink, but he was obviously trying to ignore both.

Cherry chuckled, smiled and nodded at him. "Yes, I'll continue being your girlfriend," she smiled. She leaned to kiss his cheek and went inside the house.

**Awwwww**

**Todd Rundgren is playing on the radio. It's "I Saw the Light" so yeah. That was random.**

**Guess what, I finished reading "Tex" and now I'm reading a book about drug addicts that was turned into a movie in 1987 starring Andrew McCarthy, Robert Downey Jr, Jami Gertz and James Spader. It's called "Less Than Zero".**

**I had a whole thing here that "less than zero" led up to, but I decided to get rid of it cause I have trust issues and I don't want anyone to take my idea. It's not that I don't trust any of you reading this, but I just have horrible trust issues so I'm afraid someone might get to the idea before I do. That's like how I wanted to write a possible plot for the creators of "Night at the museum" for a third one taking place at the Philadelphia Museum of Art but then I found out about the "secrets of the tomb" one and now I can't even send it in as a third cause Robin Williams is gone (Rest In Peace) and you can't have those movies without him as Teddy Roosevelt, you just can't.**

**How's this story so far? Is it good? Does it work out? I don't know cause this story was a request and to be honest, it kinda makes me think of "overboard" which isn't really a bad thing cause I love that movie and it's kinda hard so yeah. Please tell me how it's going, I wanna know what you peoples think of it.**

**Oh, so I'm going to an open house at the Connecticut School of Broadcasting in Hasbrouck Heights tonight with my mom. When I'm an adult, me and my friend Sara really wanna open a radio station together that would play music from the 1950s through like 1990s so yeah. **

**Also, I'm just curious, how many of you like Elvis Presley or "I Love Lucy"? if you do, you need to see two videos called: "Elders react to Elvis Presley" and "Elders react to I Love Lucy" they are so cute oh my gahd. And how those people react to both is how I react and I'm sixteen. **

**Anyway, hope you do like this story! Peace from all the hippies of the world! =^-^=**


	14. Chapter 13

Evie hadn't gone out much since she had found out about her pregnancy. It wasn't just because she still didn't feel very well, but rather that she didn't want to go out. One reason was that she could tell whether or not she was showing, and she didn't wanna take a chance of anyone seeing her in town if she was already showing. Sure, she had clothes that would cover her up completely and she'd look like regular, but those clothes were too heavy for a month into summer- especially if you were in Evie's current position.

Evie sat on the couch in her living room watching reruns of _I Love Lucy._ Both ironically and sickeningly, the episode that was on was _Lucy is Enceinte_, the one where Lucy finds out that she is pregnant with Little Ricky. Usually, she would love watching the reruns of the about fifteen year old show, but at the moment, she just couldn't watch this episode without feeling sick to her stomach.

Evie turned off the television and sat up on the couch and let out a sigh. She looked down at her stomach and placed her left hand in the middle. "I'm sorry I'm going to be your mom," she said quietly then leaned back on the couch and covered her face with both of her hands.

Evie took her hands off of her face when she heard the front door open and close. When she looked up, she saw Cherry lean against the door and bite her bottom lip to hold back a smile. "I'm guessing your date with Soda went well?" she asked the excited redhead.

Cherry let her smile show and she nodded. "Yeah, it did," she smiled.

For the first time in a few days, Evie chuckled. "So what happened? Did Mr. Pretty-Boy sweep you off your feet like in a movie?"

Cherry let out her own chuckle. "I guess in a way you could say that."

"Well? You gonna tell me what happened or not?"

"He asked me to continue being his girlfriend."

Evie gave a slightly confused look. "Continue?"

"Well yeah. Cause we were alrady goin' out before the whole incident, so if I still wanted to be his girlfriend."

The scenario clicked in Evie's head and she nodded in understanding.

-/-/-

Over the next few days, there was a repeating cycle routine for Evie, and to some extent Cherry. Even though it was summer, both girls woke up at seven in the morning, which caused them to usually get a total of six to seven hours of sleep the night before. By 7:35, Evie had to run to the bathroom and stayed there for at most ten minutes due to her morning sickness. While Evie was there, Cherry made breakfast for the two of them, along for Esther. She didn't know it, but apparently she was a really good cook.

"You doin' alright?" Cherry asked her friend in a tone that had a bit of sympathy.

Evie covered her face with both of her hands and shrugged. "I think so," she answered quietly, "At least I will be in ten minutes. At the moment, though, I wanna die."

"Gonna see Steve today?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

"He's worried about you, ya know. That you haven't really left the house since we got home from the Dingo that night."

"I know."

"Why don't you come with me to the DX a little later?"

"Am I showing?" Evie asked suddenly, taking her hands off of her face.

Cherry gave a confused look at her friend. "What do you mean _are you showing_?" she asked confused.

Evie stood up sideways. She grabbed the back of her shirt and pulled it, tightening it around her torso. "Am I showing yet?"

Cherry checked for a moment for her friend. "Only a tiny bit. But no one in town'll be able to tell by that."

"You're one hundred percent sure? You're not lying to me just to get me out the house, right?"

"I promise I'm not lying."

Evie sighed, "Fine. I go with you to the DX later."

-/-/-

Lily sat on her bed listening to a Beach Boys record, _Sufin' U. S. A._, which was released the year 1963. The current song that was playing was the one that the record was named after: _Surfin' U. S. A._ She had a notepad rested against her legs, which were brought up in a way so that the notepad was at a slight tilt, as she sketched.

The image that Lily was sketching on the paper was a back view. It was a couple that was standing on the bridge over the small river at the park- the park and bridge were imaged after the one that was right in Tulsa. The couple was leaning against the front of the bridge and looking over the water. The girl's head was leaned up against the boy's shoulder. The boy had tilted his head slightly and had it rested on top of the girl's head.

Let's just say that Lily is a huge romantic.

Lily looked up from her notebook when she heard someone knock on her door a few times. When she looked up, she saw her older brother Two-Bit poking his head in between her bedroom door and the frame of the door itself. "Can I come in?" he asked her.

Lily nodded and turned off the record. "Yeah, sure," she answered, "You can come in." He walked in and sat next to her on the edge of her bed. "What's goin' on?"

"Anything wrong?"

She gave a confused look. "No… Why? Is there something wrong with you?"

"No, I was just wonderin' cause you been in here nearly the whole day. Figured somethin' might be wrong. That's all."

"I've been in here all day?"

"Yeah."

"Oh. I lost track of time then. Nothing's wrong with me, don't worry… at least I haven't noticed anything wrong with me. If you do, you tell me, alright?" she teased her older brother.

Two-Bit smiled at his little sister's joke. He could always tell they were related. He chuckled then nodded toward her sketchpad. "You're really into the romance stuff, huh, Lily?" he asked.

Lily's cheeks went slightly pink out of embarrassment. "Yeah, kinda. But that's on mom cause she always played those Cary Grant or William Holden type movies when I was little. Not to mention how we watched _I Love Lucy_ when I was little."

When Lily was about five years old, she had started to watch _I Love Lucy_ with her mother. She had instantly fallen in love with the relationship that Lucy and Ricky had, then when she found out that, at the time, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz would really married, that sent her through the roof. She had also loved the film starring William Holden, Humphrey Bogart and Audrey Hepburn: _Sabrina._ Then Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn in _Bringing Up Baby._ Or Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds in _Singin' in the Rain_. And there were countless other films that she loved that were either dramatic romance stories, or comedic romance stories.

Two-Bit chuckled at his little sister's answer. "That's true," he chuckled, "You and me both know how much Mom loves those things."

"Yeah," Lily smiled, "And before Dad… well, ya know… while you two would be outta the house or whatever, that's when I'd stay home with her and watch 'em with her.

"Oh yeah, I remember that. I remember we used to walk in on y'all while you were watching them. I don't know why I remember this one, but the time we walked in and y'all were watching _The Long, Long Trailer._"

Lily chuckled to herself, remembering scenes from the film. "Yeah, that was a good one."

"So, another thing I meant to ask ya was, ya got plans tonight with Ponyboy?" Two-Bit asked.

Lily nodded. "Yeah, we're gonna go and see a movie then go to the park."

"What movie?"

"We don't know. We were just gonna decide when we got there." Before either of them could say anything else, the heard someone knock on the door. Lily ran to the window and saw Ponyboy outside smiling and waving. She smiled and waved back at him, signaling she'd be right out. "And there he is now," she smiled. She ran back over to her sketchpad and ripped out the paper with the sketch she was working on. She folded it into a square and stuffed it into her pocket.

"What's that for?" Two-Bit asked his kid sister in a confused tone.

"I wanna show it to Ponyboy."

He followed as she started downstairs. "You two an official thing yet or not?"

"Not yet."

"Seriously? You two have been going out for two months and you're not official yet? I know Mr. and Mrs. Curtis always taught those three to be respectful and not pressure girls, cause they tried to teach us all that, but this is ridiculous," he teased.

Lily laughed and waved goodbye to her brother as she walked out the house and greeted Ponyboy outside the front door.

**I'm trying to not make this so depressing and I don't know if it's working. Is it working?**

**By the way, just so you all know, the whole plot I have with Evie, I'm kinda going by a situation with a friend of mine that happened two years ago. At my old school, when I was a freshman, I had a friend who was a junior and she was scared for a little while that she might've been pregnant (she wasn't). Now I'm not making fun of teen pregnancies, but they are a real thing so yeah. I don't have to worry about that cause I'm gonna be a virgin till I get married in the future so yeah. (I don't believe in premarital sex, at least I don't like it so yeah)**

**Also, I apologize for not updating recently (at least don't think I have) I start college courses again this week, but this time two at a time plus I took up another fan fiction so be patient with my please. Plus I started reading "Homefront" cause I finished "Less Than Zero" and I watched the movie of it and I swear I cried as much as the first time I saw the outsiders except I wasn't expecting it this time cause the movie was way different from the book. I was voice messaging my best friend on facebook while I watched and I was legit in tears so yeah.**

**Anyway, hope you liked the chapter! Peace from all the hippies of the world! =^-^=**


	15. Chapter 14

Evie and Cherry walked over to the DX in a period of fifteen minutes. Evie had found a light shirt that she could wear and- finally, in her opinion- didn't make her show. Cherry would keep telling her and insisting to her that she wasn't showing, but Evie would be self-conscious and not believe one hundred percent.

-/-/-

Soda and Steve were working their usual summer shifts- long and boring. Nearly no one was around in the summer and if they were, they didn't really use their cars to get anywhere. The two liked working at the DX, but they would both be lying if they said that it was kind of a boring job to have sometimes. If there were no cars to really work on, they didn't really have anything to do except rearrange things inside and deal with the girls that would come in- and even they weren't coming today, which fit Soda and Steve just fine. Otherwise, they just joked around and found dumb ways to kill time, but still enjoyed those things.

Both Soda and Steve jumped when they heard the bell hooked up to the door that rang whenever someone opened the door. When they looked to see who had come inside, they saw both of their girlfriends walking toward the counter. The girl black hair like a raven walked with her head down and her hair over her face, arms hugging herself. The girl with fiery red hair kept taking worried and sympathetic glances at her friend.

Evie met Steve at one end of the counter while Soda and Cherry met at the other end of the counter opposite from them. "How's Evie doin'?" Soda asked quietly.

Cherry took a quick glance at her friend then back to her boyfriend. "Alright, I guess,"' she shrugged, "But she's been like a vampire for the past couple of days. She hasn't left the house in three days."

"Yeah, Steve was tellin' me that. He's real worried about her. How'd you get her out the house?"

"Trust me, it wasn't easy. It took a lot of convincing, partly using Steve's name for that. But then she asked if she was showing and that if she was, she wasn't gonna leave the house and come here with me."

"Maybe talkin' to Steve'll help her?"

Cherry shrugged again. "Who knows?"

"I wish there was somethin' we could do," Soda sighed.

Cherry nodded and let out a sigh. "I do too."

"So how're you doin'?"

"I'm doin' alright. But I still feel like I don't know anything about my childhood or my parents or whatever. By the way, I meant to ask you, do you know anything 'bout my parents? Like, why haven't they been around this whole time?"

Soda's heart began to pound in his chest and instead of a guilty feeling, he felt sympathetic. "They're on some major business trip. It's in some other country, I forgot where exactly. But where they are, it's almost impossible to reach them," he lied.

Even with everything he was already doing to Cherry and her poor memory, he couldn't find it in his heart to tell her that they had abandoned her like they did. Especially with her and her current condition. Even to someone who _didn't _have temporary amnesia, it wasn't an easy thing to find out. _Maybe that's part of the reason she tried,_ Soda thought. It especially didn't help right now that her friend that she had been staying with, Marcia, had left town literally right after Cherry had been emitted into the hospital. None of that was easy to hear, and he didn't have the heart to tell her all of that quite yet.

-/-/-

"It still just don't make sense to me," Dallas said for what felt like the millionth time, and that was just this week, with a confused look on his face.

Dallas, Two-Bit and Johnny were in the Mathews house. Johnny had started to live there after he was released from the hospital a while before. Two-Bit's mom had been a nurse for about ten years of her life, and since he still needed proper care and rest when he was released, she took custody of him away from his parents. After he was all healed up, she had insisted he stay there and live with them. She had always liked him and felt bad for him, and he always had liked her too as much as he liked Mrs. Curtis, but he felt bad about staying there. She said there was no reason to feel bad, that she wanted him to stay.

Two-Bit rolled his eyes. "Dal, we've gone through this a hundred times already," he groaned, "And why do _you _care so much 'bout this?"

"I don't know," he grumbled, obviously annoyed with himself.

"I get where he's comin' from," Johnny said, "I think that maybe since Cherry doesn't really remember, she won't be like every other girl in town who's tryin' to go out with Soda. Y'all know they go after him like a pack a' dogs to a cat."

"I don't get it."

"He's popular, so most girls wanna go out with him. He hasn't had a girlfriend since Sandy so he probably wants someone who'll be genuine and doesn't know, or in this case remember, who he is. He always had a thing for her after a while before she tried to… well, ya know. She probably liked him too cause Marcia would always take her to see him when she was down."

Two-Bit blinked at his quiet friend. "How do you know all that?" he asked.

Johnny shrugged. "Don't know. It just came into my head." The three were all silent for a moment until Dallas stood up from his seat. "Where ya goin'?" Johnny asked.

"I don't know," Dallas said in an annoyed tone and left the house.

"Be ready just in case we get a call from the police station," Two-Bit said, "Cause he's in as good as a mood as a raccoon awake durin' the day."

-/-/-

When Ponyboy and Lily got to the movie theater, they decided to see _How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying_. The film was released during the month of March, but it would be out of the theater the next week. At first, they had decided to see _Easy Come, Easy Go_ starring Elvis Presley, but when they saw that the other film was still there, they jumped on the opportunity to see it while they still could.

"Did you like the movie?" Ponyboy asked as they walked out of the theater and to the street.

By now, the sun had started to set and it was a bit darker. Ponyboy made sure to keep Lily close to him. It wasn't out of fear, it was some gut feeling he had to protect her from the harms of the world. It wasn't that he didn't think she couldn't take care of herself or that she wasn't strong enough to, most of Tulsa knew that she could do that pretty well, considering she was one of the few girls who went to the female only boxing gym, and they were really tough there. Not many girls could handle that place. Even though she was quiet when you first met her, once you got to know her, you could see how tough she was.

Yet, she was still gentle and kind. Ponyboy always thought that was part of the reason he was so attracted to her.

Lily nodded. "Yeah, I did," she smiled then chuckled, "I like the times when they sang _It's Been A Long Day._"

Ponyboy smiled, "Who was your favorite character?"

"I liked Rosemary. Who did you like?"

"I actually really liked Finch. Remember when he was trying to keep up singin' _Grand Old Ivy_ with his boss to suck up to him?"

Lily chuckled and nodded. "I never knew you were one for romantic musical comedies."

"I didn't either." The two laughed as they continued to the park.

-/-/-

When Ponyboy and Lily got to the park, they made it just in time to watch the sunset. They stood on the bridge while watching the sunset, her head leaned against his shoulder; even though she was a year older than him, she was still shorter than him and she reached a little higher than his shoulder. His head was leaned against hers and his arm was around her shoulders. She jumped up and took the paper from her pocket.

In the past year and a half, Ponyboy had gotten more mature- and he was already pretty mature. But now, he started taking more interest in girls like his older brother. Darry and Sodapop could tell that it was happening, but if they mentioned it to Ponyboy, he'd say he didn't know what they were talking about. As time went on, he had grown a bit bolder, but he was still quiet.

"I meant to show you this," Lily said as she unfolded the paper and hand it to him.

Ponyboy took the paper from her and smiled as he looked at it. "Wow," he smiled, "It's amazing."

Her cheeks turned pink as she smiled. "You really think so?"

"Yeah, I do." He handed her back the paper.

"No, it's alright. You can keep it."

"Thanks… uh, Lily."

"Yeah, Ponyboy?"

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I've been wanting to ask you somethin' for a little while now."

Lily gave a confused look. "Ok… what is it?"

Ponyboy took a deep breath. "Lily, I was wonderin' if… if you wouldn't mind… maybe, being my girlfriend?"

Lily smiled, jumped and hugged him. "I would love to be your girlfriend," she smiled and said in a quiet voice.

Ponyboy smiled and leaned down to kiss his now girlfriend, who kissed him back.

**Aw Ponyboy and Lily are totally "ship" worthy.**

**Two updates in one week, how shocking is that. Especially since I have two college courses now, and I'm behind in two of my high school classes- algebra II and chemistry. **

**And Sara, since you told me you wanted to read my stories, here's a public announcement that it's ok if you start reading this one XD I trust you, especially since I always ask you and Alex about suggestions and help for my stories**

**Tomorrow's halloween. Yay (she said sarcastically). I don't like halloween at all. I never have and I never will. I do certain things as my own little celebration- which I have completed- and they are:**

**Listen to "Ghostbusters" at least once on the radio, watch the 1984 film "Ghostbusters" at least once (I watched it twice)**

**Listen and watch the video of "Thriller"**

**Hear "The Monster Mash" on the radio**

**Watch "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!"**

**My halloween ended this morning after I heard "The Monster Mash", so yeah. If anyone here does celebrate halloween, please be careful tonight and tomorrow. If you go trick or treating, be careful with your candy and pay attention to certain things that might have the possibility of being in the candy that could hurt you.**

**Anyway, hope you liked the chapter, peace from all the hippies of the world! =^-^=**


	16. Chapter 15

**WARNING! PLEASE READ THIS BRIEF NOTE!**

**Ok, if you have ever struggled with any sort of depression and have (I'm sorry) cut yourself out of depression of in general, please do not read this chapter. It technically doesn't happen, but I don't want to provoke anyone. If you feel that cutting or depression has or will affect you in any way, do not read this chapter. Trust me, I have dealt with this, just please don't. if you want to read any of it if you are, read the first part with Two-Bit and Kathy, then the absolute end of the chapter, I will make a mark when it is safe to read. If you don't read the middle but want to know what happens, please just message me and ask and I will tell you.**

**Thank you and feel better.**

"Our little Ponyboy got himself a girlfriend," Two-Bit said with a smile, "I can't believe it, especially since his girlfriend is my kid sister."

"Why're you so shocked by that?" Kathy asked, "He was always a charmer. And besides, they've known each other for years, so it's not really that shocking. They're like that cliché couple that have known each other since they were kids, then when they're old enough to date, they go out."

"You got a point, I'll admit that. But either way, Lily never really showed interest in relationships. Even being the romantic type she is."

"She actually has showed interest in guys. She just didn't tell you."

He gave a confused look. "Why not?"

She scoffed a bit, "Do you know how hard it is to tell your brother that you finally have an interest in guys if you're a girl? Trust me when I tell you this, cause I've experienced it: if a girl has a brother, whether it be older or younger, at some point, those boys are gonna protect their sister. Mostly from other boys cause they know how boys can be. When a girl finally gets to the age that she'll wanna start dating, her brothers go overboard- especially _older _brothers, which you are."

"Seriously?"

"Yes. And the fact that you're also the father figure in her life, that doesn't help either hers or your point of view in this whole thing. But I know the reason you're not worried."

"Oh yeah? Then what is it, cause I sure as hell don't. I'd think I would be, but I'm not. I'm actually fine with the whole thing."

"Cause this is Ponyboy we're talkin' about. We all know that he wouldn't do nothin' to her and for a couple reasons. One: he's known her his whole life, so there's respect for her right there. Two: he knows you and how you protect Lily as best as you can. Three: she's one of the only girls who goes to that gym in town. Only the toughest survive there, Lily said it herself."

Two-Bit thought for a moment, taking all that his girlfriend said into consideration. "That's true," he said.

**(if you read the author's note, stop reading here,, I'll give another mark when it's ok to read again)**

-/-/-

Cherry sat on the back steps of the house. She reflected on what had happened during the first month of her life- if that's how you would even say it. What would you call the starting over after you got amnesia? Either way, she still barely remembered anything from her childhood, or even her parents. What did they look like? What were their names? How old were they? How long were they married? Were they divorced or were they still together? Not to mention all the other things she was still fuzzy about.

Cherry shut her eyes for a moment in attempt to maybe remember something. Anything. Whether it be about her parents, her life before, her relationships with people. Or anything from the past.

"_Cherry, honey? Where are you?" a woman called. The woman was not in the room, but it sounded as if she weren't very far._

_Cherry felt her heart begin to race in a panic. She heard her voice say, "Damnit." She grabbed a large bandage of some sort and wrapped in around both of her wrists. Her wrists were covered in dark, parallel lines that leaked red. The lines led from her wrist to the end of her forearm. The lines were as straight as sewing needles._

_Cherry then took some tissues and wrapped a broken razor that girls used to shave. The end was broken and the actual razors were all half covered in red. She threw the wrapped up razors into the trash bin in the bathroom. She then went back into the room and slipped on a long sleeved shirt, making sure they covered her arms and wrists completely. "I'm comin'," she called back to the woman._

Cherry's eyes snapped open and she gave a confused look. She glanced down at both of her arms, which were folded and her elbows were rested on her knees. She wore a cardigan, which covered her arms. She bit down on her bottom lip and she started to roll back the fabric on both of her arms, exposing the skin on her arms. She pulled the fabric on both arms above her elbows.

When both of her arms were exposed, she lined them up to each other and held them up a bit. Cherry gave a look of both shock and slight confusion when she saw faint lines like the ones in her memory on her arms. The only difference between the lines currently on her arms and the lines that she remembered, was that the lines in her memory were like fresh cuts or scratches. The ones she was looking at now, those were faint scars of something that happened and was now healing, but not quite done healing. _Why did this happen?_ She thought.

Cherry got up from the steps and went inside the house. She looked around the living room to see if Evie was around and frowned a bit when she saw that she wasn't. _She's probably with Steve,_ the redhead thought. She couldn't ask Esther- Evie's little sister- she probably wouldn't know anyway.

Cherry walked over to the phone and dialed the number of the person- at least the location of- who might have an idea of how the scars got there.

-/-/-

Soda wiped his hands with a small rag that was on the table in the garage of the DX. He had been doing repairs all day with Steve in the garage and that had been the last car. He was covered in car grease and gasoline, but in all honesty, that was not terribly uncommon.

Soda jumped a bit when the phone inside the garage started to ring; it was connected to the phone in the main building so that if there were no workers in there because they were in the garage, they would still hear the phone. He picked up the phone to answer the call and stuck it between his shoulder, the crook of his neck, and his head. "You've reach the DX, this is Sodapop, can I help you?" he said like his boss had told him to say.

"_Soda? It's Cherry. Are you busy?" _she asked.

"Oh, hey, Cherry. I'm not terribly busy. Why? Somethin' wrong?" His heart began to beat a bit faster. Look ov

"_I'm not really sure. That's actually why I called you."_

"Well, I get off in about ten minutes, I can stop by right after I leave if you want."

"_Uh, yeah. Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks, Soda."_

"Alright, I'll see you soon."

"_Yeah, see you soon," _Cherry said and the line went dead.

-/-/-

Soda clocked out of his shirt at the DX and left, bidding his best friend goodbye as he ran out the door. Instead of waiting for his brother, he walked back into the East Side and over to Evie's house where Cherry was currently living.

When Soda got to the house, he knocked on the front door. When it opened, he saw Evie. He asked how she was doing, but she merely shrugged. She told him that Cherry was sitting on the back steps. He thanked her as she led him through the house and to the back door that led to the back steps.

Soda saw Cherry look over her shoulder when the back door opened. He sat down next to her as she shifted over to make room for him to sit on the steps as well. "Hey," he said in a quiet tone, "You alright? You sounded real nervous on the phone."

Cherry once again rolled up the sleeves of her cardigan, showing him the faint scars. "What are these from?" she asked him nervously.

_I was hoping she wouldn't ask about that,_ he thought.

Soda didn't know how he should answer her question. He couldn't just come out and say she had been depressed. He knew she'd ask why, then what would he say? He still didn't have the heart to tell her what her parents had done and how her friend had left right after the incident. _I've already done too much_, he thought.

"You weren't in the best place a while before you were in the hospital," Soda answered in a soft and gentle tone.

Cherry gave a confused look. "What do you mean by that?" she asked.

"You wouldn't tell me exactly what was goin' on. All you told me that it was some sort of family issue."

"I guess that does make sense, I guess. How long did I do it?"

'I'm not really sure. You hid it for a while."

Cherry covered her face with her hands. "I can't believe I used to do that," she groaned, "I'm so sorry."

"What for?"

"You were probably worried sick. Am I right?"

When Cherry had been depressed, her friend Marcia would take her to the DX often to see Soda. Not only for the fact that he smile was contagious, but she had mentioned hidden feelings for him to her friend. Whenever she would see him, she would perk up a bit. During her visits, thought, he would notice the lines on her wrists. He chose not to ask about them as not to make her feel bad or ashamed or anything of the sort, but Marcia had told him the situation just to give him some enlightenment on the redhead. From that point, on, he _had_ been worried about her. He had counted a total of ten months since the first time he saw the cuts to when she had gotten to the hospital.

Soda nodded. "Yeah, I really was," he answered genuinely.

**(you can read here now)** The next thing Soda knew, Cherry's lips were pressed against his. He was taken back by her action at first, but a moment later, he found himself kissing her back. _Cherry lip balm_, popped into his head as they kissed.

Cherry pulled back slowly and she bit down on the right corner of her bottom lip. She held back a smile and placed her hand over her mouth as she let out a small chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Soda chuckled.

"It was our first kiss, but it wasn't. It's kina funny to think of it like that… did I just make this weird?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "Not really, cause I think I got car gasoline on your cheek."

She shrugged it off and smiled. "Thank you."

"For the smudge on your cheek?"

"Not that," she chuckled, "For caring so much."

He smiled. There was finally something that he felt he had told her the whole truth about.

**Ok hopefully, you guys read the beginning note.**

**So how are you all? See any good movies lately?**

**Did anyone here see "Jersey Boys" that was released last year? Not the broadway show (yet I would love to see that). I saw the movie last night, and a few things there you have to be from New Jersey to understand if you ask me XD lucky for me, I am. And also lucky for me, they were from Newark and Belleville, and all the towns they mentioned in New Jersey in the movie, I've been too a hundred times and know well XD it felt weird. They mentioned Bloomfield, Fairfield, Belleville, Newark, Bergenfield and a few other places. **

**Also, I want you guys to know that I'm not making fun of people who struggle with what it in this chapter and beginning note. Like I said, I struggled with slight depression about a year or two ago, but I did not cut myself. I was too afraid of what my parents would do if they saw. It's a serious issue, and that's why this story is not a comedy.**

**Anyway, just curious who else saw it cause I loved it. Hope you guys took my beginning note into consideration. Peace from all the hippies of the world! =^-^=**


	17. Chapter 16

"You doin' any better?" Cherry asked hopefully.

Evie shrugged a bit. "Yeah, I guess," she answered, "I'm still real scared but whatever. What about you? Remembering anything lately?"

"Yeah, kinda. But there's still _a lot_ missing. It's like I can't remember any good times in my life."

"Well, don't worry. It'll all come back with time."

"Yeah, I hope so… oh, by the way. Did you ever have your hair cut short?"

Evie glanced at her hair- which currently reached near the middle of her back- and shook her head. "Nah, last time I had short hair was when I was twelve years old. Why?"

Cherry shrugged it off. "Just curious, that's all."

-/-/-

Marcia woke up in the guest room of her mother's cousin's house and felt better than she had when she had first gotten to the house, which had been happening for a little while now.

Ever since Marcia had realized that all that was going happening was most likely happening for a specific reason, she felt a little bit better about the whole situation. Granted, she still did feel bad about the whole thing, but her believing it all happened for a reason was a huge comfort to her, considering that she had no real way of finding out how her friend was actually doing.

She knew it wouldn't be that way when she got back to Tulsa, though.

Marcia got out of the bed and over to the dresser. She changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt then slipped on her ked sneakers. She usually didn't wear jeans and a t-shirt back in Tulsa, but in Point Place in Wisconsin, the weather was a bit different. Granted, it was warm this time of year in Point Place, but it wasn't quite as warm as it was in Tulsa, which led to her use of the denim jeans.

After she got dressed, she combed out her short brown hair and left it out, causing it to run against her shoulders with every move she made. She grabbed her toothbrush and toothpaste and ran to the bathroom to brush her teeth before anyone else got there first and prevented her from doing so.

When Marcia finished up in the bathroom, she left the room and went down the stairs, through the living room and to the kitchen. At the moment, four people were currently in the kitchen: her mom, her dad, her cousin Kitty, and Kitty's husband Red. Laurie and Eric were probably still asleep in their rooms. Kitty and her mother were cooking, while Red and her father sat at the round kitchen table discussing the latest wrestling matches. If it were November, they'd be discussing the latest football statistics.

The four adults all greet her with four different variations of "good morning". She smiled and greeted them all back then walked over to where her mother and Kitty were at the counter and the stove. The two women then let Marcia help them as they made breakfast, considering she was an exceptional cook for a girl her age.

"You seem happier than usual this morning," her mother noted.

"Yeah, is there something you'd like to share with us?" Kitty asked in a teasing tone.

Marcia let out a chuckle. "I'm just happy, I guess," she shrugged, "I just woke up and I was happy."

Kitty chuckle. "That's always a nice thing, I can tell you that much."

-/-/-

"Has Two-Bit been on your back 'bout how to be with his sister since you two are goin' out now?" Johnny asked.

Ponyboy shook his head. "He's been pretty tuff about it," he answered, "I mean, I really like Lily, and it seems like she really like me, too. And I wouldn't do nothin' to hurt her or somethin'."

"It's kinda weird dating Two-Bit's sister, though, ain't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not wishin' this on you, but what if you two ever break up? It'll be weird with Two-Bit around all the time cause most likely, he'd take her side and it'll mess up your friendship, won't it?"

"Well, it might, I guess."

"But look on the bright side. If you and Lily ever get married, you'll have Two-Bit for a brother-in-law," Johnny joked.

Ponyboy let out a chuckle. "That could be both a good thing and a bad thing," he laughed.

-/-/-

Lily, Evie and Cherry were all staying the night at Kathy's house. That's how it was nearly every summer: of the three or four of the girls, they would all spend one night a month at one of their houses. It happened for each of them once a month, so it usually happened once a week. Since Cherry had been living with Evie, they all decided that, depending on how they felt, it'd either be one or two nights at Evie's house.

Kathy and Lily had noticed some sort of change in Evie, but the two couldn't quite put their finger on what was different about her. The thing was, they had noticed more than one change in her, so it wasn't easy for the two to actually pinpoint the specific things that had changed about their friend. Another thing was that they couldn't really decide if they should ask her about it or just leave her be.

While the two waited for Evie and Cherry, they tried to get the thought out of their heads as they got ready for the sleepover that would take place at Kathy's house that night.

-/-/-

Cherry walked out of the corner store in town and started back to the East Side of Tulsa. She had to go to the corner store to pick up a few small things before she and her friend with the jet black hair went to their other friend's house.

Cherry had gone to the corner store alone, considering it wasn't on the main street in the center of town in Tulsa. Along with the fact that it was summer, it was helpful that it was pretty uninhabited during the summer. At least that's what she had noticed in the last month and a half.

As Cherry walked down the street from the store to the house, she noticed a group of boys that were hanging out right outside the record shop. She could tell that they were _not_ from the East Side and that they were from the West Side, which meant that they were Socs. She kept her head down as she walked and did her best to ignore the small group of boys.

As Cherry walked, she could feel three pairs of eyes watching her every move. She still tried to ignore the three, which had been working for a little while.

"Cherry?" one of them said, gaining her attention, "Cherry, is that you?"

She slowly stopped walking and looked at him from a side glance, only moving her head slightly toward him. "Can I help you?" she asked cautiously, being able to see the faces off all three.

"Aren't you Cherry? From the West Side?" the second one asked her.

She shook her head. "I'm from the East Side?"

"You sure?" the third one asked, "Cause you look an awful lot like this girl we heard about who's from the West Side."

"That must be someone else cause like I said, I'm from the West Side." She shook her head and had a weird look on her face. "I mean the East Side. Y'all got my words mixed up now." She did her best to control her tone.

"Alright," the first one said in a confused tone, "I guess we were wrong. See you around, I guess."

Cherry nodded and continued to the East Side. As she continued on, she had a confused look on her face. This was not the second time- at least that she could remember- that someone asked her about the West Side of town. The first time was something that she had remembered, which was Ponyboy asking her if she could see the sunset from the West Side. The second time now being her recent encounter with the three boys.

What really confused Cherry, though, was that she had unconsciously answered that she was from the West Side. She kept telling herself that it was just them confusing her words around, which caused her to mess up, yet she wasn't one hundred percent sure that was right.

"Why do people ask me about the West Side?" Cherry mumbled to herself as she walked.

**This chapter took too long to write down in my notebook.**

**Ok so this story was a request, but it'll probably end up being about half the size of the request. It was requested to be about sixty chapters (I think, if I remember correctly), and I thought I could do like, the first twenty chapters would be the first month of the summer, next twenty for the second month, then ten for the third, then ten more for once Cherry gets her memory back. I'm only at sixteen chapters and they're in the middle of summer so yeah. I apologize but this story is actually really hard.**

**Anyway, I hope you all like it, and Happy Thanksgiving! =^-^= **


	18. Chapter 17

Evie and Cherry arrived at Kathy's house around 5:30 that afternoon. Evie was her now usual quiet self, while Cherry was her usual upbeat self. That's at least how she'd pretty much been as she had learned to adjust to her surroundings over the past month and a half now.

Kathy and Lily had gone to greet their two friends at the front door when the doorbell rang. The four girls all greeted each other in their own ways then entered the house. Evie and Cherry did as their two blonde friends said and placed their belongings against the wall on the other side of the room.

Kathy and Lily had both agreed to try and find out what might be wrong with their friend with hair the color of a raven- who had recently started to become as secluded and distant as an actual raven. The two girls had devised a plan together that would most likely work and they'd find out what was wrong with their friend, but not pass their friendship boundaries. It had all been planned out, and the two knew exactly how it would work and what they would do. All they had to do what play it out, and hopefully find out what was wrong with their friend so maybe they could try and help her.

-/-/-

Soda and Steve walked out of the DX, both saying their goodbyes to their follow co-workers as they walked out of the building. The two best friends then walked over to Steve's car in the parking lot, Steve getting in to the driver's seat, Soda into the passenger's seat. When the two had both gotten into the car, Soda noticed his best friend's quiet and unusually sad composure.

"What's goin' on?" Soda asked him with a concerned tone.

Steve gave his friend a weird look. "What're you talkin' about?" he asked.

"You've been different lately for a while now. So I've been wonderin' if you're alright."

Steve shrugged and let out a sigh. "I don't know… I am, but I'm not. Does that make sense?"

"Kinda, I guess."

"I don't feel sick or nothin', but I don't feel good neither."

"Worried 'bout Evie?"

"Yeah, that's part of it."

Before Soda could say anything else, his best friend had started the car and started to drive toward the East Side.

-/-/-

Soda and Steve arrived at the Curtis' house- where Soda lived- about ten minutes after leaving the DX. Both teenage boys knew that their girlfriends were at the house of the girlfriend of their Mickey mouse obsessed friend, so all the members of their 'gang' were present at the house, considering the three of them were they only of the seven who were in a relationship- that wasn't include Dallas' on-again-off-again relationship with Sylvia.

The two were greeted as they walked into the house, in which they returned the greetings. Soda watched as his best friend walked over to his older brother in the next room. He remembered how Steve had said he need to talk to Darry, considering he was the only real responsible adult figure of the seven of them. He had already spoken to his best friend about his current situation, now he needed to talk to the most responsible adult figure in his life.

-/-/-

Steve slowly walked into the next room where the oldest Curtis brother was going over some papers. His heart beat a million times a minute. _This must be how it feel if I was telling my parents like anyone else in this situation,_ he thought.

"Uh, Darry?" Steve said, gaining the attention of the oldest of the three brothers.

Darry looked up from his papers. "Yeah, Steve?" he asked, turning to face his younger brother's best friend.

"Um… can I talk to you 'bout something?"

"Yeah, sure. Wanna sit down?"

Steve nodded and sat down in the chair across from Darry at the table. "Look, um… what I'm 'bout to tell you, you can't tell no one else. Alright?"

Darry was hesitant. "Well, Steve, I… if it's something illegal I have to-"

"It's not illegal."

Darry let out a thankful breath and nodded. "Ok," he agreed, "I won't tell anyone. So what's goin' on?"

"Well, I guess you could _technically_ say I'm in trouble, but it no just me. And it's not illegal, I swear."

"Then what's up?"

Steve let out a sigh. "Um," he started, unable to find the words or the courage to say it, so he tried to find a loophole. "It's about Evie." His voice had started to shake out of nerves.

Darry noticed his voice and slightly shaking body. "Ok, what about Evie? Is something wrong with her?"

"In a way…"

"Steve, I can tell you're nervous, but if you want my help, you gotta actually tell me what's going on."

"Ok, I'm trying… ok… Evie's…"

"Evie's…?"

"Evie's pregnant. It's my kid. She's pregnant and it's my kid. And neither of us know what to do."

-/-/-

Cherry laughed along with Lily, Kathy and Evie- who more chuckled than laughed- at the movie that was playing on the television.

The station they had on was a movie station that, every day, would play movies specifically by actor or actress. That day, it had been Cary Grant movies. The movies that would be played were two of is dramas- _Suspicion_ and _Notorious_. The other two of his movies that would played were two of his comedies- _Father Goose _and _Bringing Up Baby._

As the four girls watched, Cherry felt as though she had remembered all four of the movies from somewhere. The thing was, at least from what she knew, this would be the first time she ever saw any of the four movies.

"_Is Cary Grant trying to kill Joan Fontaine, Mom?" she heard herself ask as she looked at a woman with red hair like her own. Her voice was a bit higher pitched than it really was, making it seem like she was younger._

_The woman chuckled. "No, Cherry. Cary Grant is not really trying to kill Joan Fontaine."_

"_Well, what about the characters they're playing?"_

"_You'll have to watch and find out," the woman smiled._

Cherry shook her head and tried to focus back on the current comedy movie that was on.

"_Katharine Hepburn sure is pretty," the girl with short brown hair said._

"_And Cary Grant sure is good looking," the woman with red hair said as she let out a chuckle._

"_Realize this was nearly thirty years ago, Mom," she heard in her own voice again, sounding normal again, "And besides, you're married to Dad."_

_The woman chuckled. "I was just kidding, sweetheart. Besides your dad thinks that Katharine Hepburn is attractive, and Marilyn Monroe."_

Cherry shook her head again and looked back at the screen that had _Father Goose_ playing on it. "Stop it," she mumbled to herself remembering things while she was trying to watch the movie with her friends. If this were any other time, she would've been happy to remember something.

"_This is one of Cary Grant's last films, probably," the woman with red hair said as they walked out of what looked to be a movie theater._

_Her vision moved from the woman with red hair to what looked like to be a movie ticket. The ripped ticket stub said _Father Goose_ at the top of it, _2:45pm_ underneath it, and then the name of a movie theater that she recognized in town underneath that. _

"_Well, if it is," she heard in her own voice, "I'd say it's a pretty good way to go out."_

_The woman with red hair laughed. "You say all his films are amazing."_

_She heard herself laugh. "He's my favorite actor, what do you expect?"_

Cherry's eyes widened for a moment. "That must be my mom," she mumbled to herself. The other three girls turned and looked at her. "Did you say something, Cherry?" Lily asked curiously.

The redhead smiled and shook her head. "No," she smiled "Just laughing at the movie, that's all."

**What's up? I apologize for the (what feels like to me) long wait on this update. I've been very busy lately with school and the holidays so I will hopefully get one more update in before Christmas break.**

**Oh, so last Friday I was at church for youth group and my youth leaders decided to take us all outside to the service for the special Hanukkah service (my church is Messianic Jewish, which is basically Christian- which I am and my family celebrates both Hanukkah and Christmas) and they sang Jewish songs and we got to light candles and me and my three friends were like, "the only place we're allowed to play with fire is church on Hanukkah and Christmas Eve!" we were so happy, but then some lady lit her own candle with a lighter instead of fire from my pastor's menorah and my one friend kept saying "she has heathen fire. We have heathen fire, oh my gahd." It was funny, you had to be there.**

**Also, Hanukkah started this past Sunday night so if you celebrate it like I do- HAPPY HANUKKAH! Tonight's the fourth night!**

**Also, who here has heard about President Jerry Falwell at Liberty University's decision about letting students carry a concealed weapon on campus for self-defense? How many of you agree with it? Now, I do my online high school (I don't go to a regular high school anymore, I left two years ago and have been doing Liberty University Online Academy since) there and my online college courses (I'm a junior, it's expected) and I wanna go there for college. I support his decision 100 percent. **

**Anyway, peace from all the hippies of the world! =^-^=**


	19. Chapter 18

Darry looked at Steve with a shocked expression on his face. "Did I hear you right?" he asked nervously.

Steve let out an embarrassed sigh. "Yeah, you heard me right," he answered in a soft voice.

"How far along is she?"

"I don't know exactly, she does. I just know that the doctor said she'll be showin' soon."

Darry ran his hand over his face and let out a worried sigh. "Alright, other than you, Evie and me, who knows?"

"As far as we know, Soda, Cherry and the doctor?"

"You swear that's it? No one else?"

"I said as far as I know, but I doubt Evie, Cherry or Soda told anyone else."

Darry nodded and let out another sigh. Why was Steve telling him this? What was he supposed to do? They couldn't get rid of the baby and for a few reasons. One: It was illegal. Two: He knew how the two felt about that sort of thing and that they didn't agree with the illegal way- which relieved him a bit. Three: He knew how Evie was. He wanted to help the two, he really did, but he didn't know what to do. He'd never been in a situation like this before ever in his life.

Darry looked over at Steve, who was looking down at his feet. When he had been looking up, you could see that he was afraid. You could also see that he was nervous. Sympathy and guilt filled his body whenever he looked at his brother's best friend, who he'd known since he was eight years old. There was close to nothing that he could do or say to help the younger boy that sat across from him in their dining room, and he reminded him of the five year old version of him from when they were all younger.

"Ok," Darry sighed, "First things first. You ain't gonna leave her or the kid, right?"

Steve shook his head quickly. "Course not," he answered.

"Alright, good. Second, do you two plan on telling her parents at all?"

"Yeah, once we find out where the hell they are. They've been outta town since before the whole thing with Cherry."

_Great,_ Darry thought, _Now we got to two cases where no one knows where the hell the parents are._ "So they have no clue that their daughter is pregnant?"

"Not one."

"Doesn't Evie have a younger sister?"

"Yeah. Esther," he answered, "She don't know either. But it's not like this is somethin' we can hide forever, ya know. We don't got a clue what to do."

Darry thought for a moment. "Can I be honest with you, Steve?"

Steve nodded. "Yeah, sure. I guess."

"I don't know how to help you two."

-/-/-

Throughout the rest of the movies, Cherry couldn't focus. She tried to concentrate and enjoy them with her three friends, but she just couldn't. Her mind kept thinking of the few memories she had just had.

Cherry established that the woman in her memories was her mother. To do that, she had excused herself to go use the bathroom. She looked into the mirror and studied her appearance, comparing it to the red headed woman in her memories. After five minutes of analyzation and examining her facial features, she had established that the woman in her memories was her mother.

_Where is my mom and dad anyway?_ She thought.

That same thought had popped into Cherry's head multiple times. At the moment, she couldn't even recall a time when she asked those around her about her parents. She wanted to, but at the same time, she didn't want to ask about them. The reason she _didn't _want to ask about her parents was because she thought it was weird that they hadn't been around ever since she woke up in the hospital.

_I bet they could answer a lot of questions that I have_, she thought.

As the current Cary Grant movie ended and the next began, the phone began to ring in the next room. Her, Lily, Evie and Kathy all turned to look in the direction of the phone. Kathy got up from her seat on the ground and went to answer the call. She walked to the phone and answered the call, leaning against the frame of the open doorway that connected the two rooms.

"Hello?" she started, "No, this is Kathy… yes, he's my boyfriend, why? Did somethin' happen to him?... oh, this is Darry, I'm sorry. You sound different on the phone. So what's up… yeah, they're here… yeah, both of them, why?... is somethin' wrong with Steve or Soda?... oh, alright, good… ok, I'll tell them right now… yeah… bye, Darry." Then she hung up the phone and looked at Cherry and Evie.

"Somethin' wrong?" the redhead asked curiously.

Kathy shrugged a bit. "I don't think so," she answered, "But Darry wants you two at the house."

The two girls exchanged looks then looked back at the blonde. "Did he say anythin' 'bout what's goin' on?" Evie asked her now usual soft tone.

"Not really. Look, I could drive you two there if you want?"

The two girls agreed and all four left the house and went outside to Kathy's car outside.

-/-/-

Kathy drove toward the Curtis house with Evie, Cherry and Lily. Lily sat in the front passenger's seat, while Cherry and Evie sat in the backseat. The four all made small chat on the way to the house. Once the four got there, they all walked up to the house, just in case the two blondes were needed at all.

When they knocked on the front door, it was the middle Curtis brother that answered the door. He had been expecting Cherry and Evie, but not Kathy and Lily. The confused look on his face asked his silent question, and the two answered how they had drove the other two to the house so they wouldn't have had to walk. He nodded in understanding.

As Cherry and Evie walked inside, Kathy and Lily decided to wait on the porch. They both jumped a bit when they heard the front door open suddenly and footsteps behind them as more than one person walked out of the house. When they looked behind them, they saw their boyfriends: Two-Bit and Ponyboy. Each boy sat next to their own girlfriend, each greeting each other.

"Do either of you know what's goin' on?" Lily asked with a confused look on her face.

"Not really," Two-Bit answered his little sister.

"All we know is that Steve went to go and talk to Darry, then he called for Cherry and Evie to come here" Ponyboy answered with a shrug.

"Evie's been actin' real strange lately," Kathy said suddenly, "Do you think that Steve and Evie are having problems? Like, bad enough that they need Darry to intervene?"

"They haven't said anything. At least not Steve. Has Evie?" Two-Bit gave a weird look.

"Not a thing."

"She's been quieter lately." Lily shrugged.

Now Ponyboy gave a weird look. "She's never quiet, though. Is she sick or somethin'?"

"We don't know, but we definitely hope not."

-/-/-

Evie and Cherry walked into the house and to the dining room with Soda. Cherry walked up to him and whispered, "Is somethin' wrong? What's goin' on?" He just shrugged as the three of them sat down with Steve and Darry at the dining room table.

The oldest Curtis brother sat in his usual place at the "head" of the table. Steve sat one chair over on his right hand side, Evie in the empty chair between Darry and her boyfriend. Cherry sat in the same position as Evie, but on the opposite side of the table, and next to her, which was opposite of his best friend.

"Did we do somethin' wrong?" Soda asked his older brother nervously. _Yeah, you've been lying to Cherry this whole time,_ popped into his head, bringing back that usual feeling of guilt. He tried to ignore it as he waited for his older brother's answer.

"No," Darry answered with a slight sigh, "I actually wanted to talk to Steve and Evie. I figured I'd have you and Cherry here in case of needed support or somethin'."

Evie gave a nervous look as she looked up, her jet black hair covering the right side of her face. "Us?" she asked quietly.

Darry nodded slightly. "Yeah, you two… Evie, Steve told me 'bout the… situation… you two have on your hands right now."

Cherry looked at Evie with sad eyes as her friend looked down. Even though the rest of her dark hair had fallen over her face, she could see her friend use her right hand to wipe something off of her cheek right under her eyes. "I don't know what to do," Evie choked out quietly.

Soda and Cherry both glanced at each other with sad looks then at Darry. He looked worried. The only other times that Soda had looked as worried as he did right now was: when their parents had passed, when Ponyboy and Johnny had ran away for the week, and when he found out the redhead had temporary amnesia and had nowhere to go.

-/-/-

After Darry had provided whatever comfort he could to Evie and Steve- with help from Soda and Cherry- the two drove their girlfriend's home. Kathy and Lily had gone back home at this point, and Two-Bit and Ponyboy were in the living room with Dallas and Johnny. "Alright," Darry said, going into the living room and gaining the attention of the four boys, "Y'all know Steve's girlfriend right?"

"Yeah's" were said from all four.

"Ok. Now I asked you all to look out for Cherry, and now I'm askin' you all to look out for her _and_ Evie."

"Is everything alright?" Johnny asked in his quiet tone of voice, which was how he normally talked.

"I just need you all to do it. Evie's not in the best place right now, and Cherry still hasn't gotten her memory back. Just watch out for the two of them, got it?"

The other four in the room agreed to the oldest Curtis brother's request, even though they weren't quite sure of his intentions.

**It seems like my stories will be updated every other week so I won't be updating till the new year so- Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! By the time the new year comes, I'll have another expendables story cause I miss writing that kind of story, so yeah. And an outsiders preferences and imagines thing cause I've always wanted to write one so yeah. I may or may not put the preferences one here, maybe just wattpad, I don't know yet- but the expendables one would be both sites so yeah.**

**Anyway, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! =^-^=**


	20. Chapter 19

Nearly two months into the summer, Cherry still hadn't regained as much of her memory as she would've liked to. Sure, she had remembered a variety of events from her life before waking up in the hospital, but there was still a lot that was missing. She wasn't too fond of that, due to the fact that school was starting in a month and if her memory was at _least_ ninety percent restored, she wouldn't be able to start the school year with everyone else in town. She wanted her memory back so that when she went for her physical before the summer ended and right before school ended, that he could clear her to go.

Evie had started to show. One morning when she had gotten up and went to the bathroom, she walked past her bedroom mirror, which was as tall and long as the wall that reach the floor and the ceiling. As she walked past, she glanced at her reflection in the mirror. She had to take a double take when she saw that her stomach had grown in size. The bump wasn't huge, ,but it looked as if someone stuffed a smaller, circular shaped throw pillow under the fabric of her tank top.

Evie lifted the edge of her tank top and held the tank top up above her stomach. She placed one hand over the surface of her stomach for a brief moment, then pulled it away immediately. She quickly pulled the fabric of her tank top back down and quickly continued to the bathroom as a result of the newly formed and growing bump.

-/-/-

Esther Smith walked out of her bedroom and toward the staircase. As she walked past the hall bathroom, she could hear her older sister- at least she thought that it was Evie- from the other side of the door. She knocked on the bathroom door. "Evie?" she called through the door, "Is that you in there?"

"Uh, yeah," she heard in her sister's voice, yet it was a bit hoarse, "I'll be right out. Do you need anything?"

"No, I'm fine. I was just curious cause I wasn't sure if that was you or Cherry in there. You ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Even though her voice was a bit muffled by the painted wooden bathroom door that was between them, she could tell that there was a slight urgency in her sister's voice, like she had to get her answer out then and there cause of something else.

Esther continued to the stairway and down the stairs to the first floor. As she did, she grew slightly confused and worried about her older sister. She could count on one hand how many times she'd felt either way about her sister- and her present feeling strength triumphed over all of those previous times.

Evie and Esther had never really gotten along too well. There was around a two and a half years in age difference between the two girls- the younger recently turning sixteen a few months after the older one turned eighteen years old. Even though they were pretty close in age, their parents could never figure out why they could never get along. Granted, the two sisters could act like civilized human beings when they would have to, and sometimes they actually would get along, but most of the time one was being annoyed or aggravated by the other. Their parents hoped that it was just results of the cliché teenager attitude and the two butting heads due to that.

As Esther reached the first floor of the house, she saw Cherry in their dining room. The redhead was setting the table with three different place settings- one for herself, and one for each of the two sisters. She stopped when she saw the younger and smiled at her. "Mornin', Esther," Cherry greeted.

"Mornin', Cherry," Esther greeted, "Need any help?"

"No, I'm fine. But thank you for your offer."

_Why is she always so polite and kind?_ Esther thought, and this wasn't the first time. "Alright. Hey, Cherry, can I ask you somethin'?"

"Course. What's goin' on?"

"IS there somethin' wrong with my sister? She's been acting real strange lately."

Cherry didn't really know how to answer. She definitely wasn't going to tell Esther that her older sister was about three and a half months pregnant, it wasn't her place to tell her. It seemed to her that at the moment, her only option was to lie to the younger girl about what she knew about the situation.

"Yeah, she's fine," Cherry answered as convincingly as she could, "Why? Somethin' wrong?"

Esther shook her head. "No, I was just curious, that's all," she answered with a shrug, "I mean, she's just been acting even weirder than usual, don't you think?"

"She don't seem different to me. Though, I haven't lived with her my whole life like you have."

-/-/-

Soda had been feeling guilty about lying to Cherry, more than usual lately. He wasn't quite sure why, but he did have a few hunches about the reason why. One: it had been two months and she didn't really remember as much as she probably should've remembered by now because of his lie to her. Two: Because of that, she couldn't live a "normal" life. These were just two of the many hunches about his full guilty that he had, yet he felt that they were all right.

Because of the ongoing guilt- at least that's what believed it to be- he had been feeling terrible, both physically and mentally. He was always there when he was with someone. It was as though he was a million miles away in some other galaxy, sometimes. He wasn't smiling as much as he usually would, which was completely odd due to his personality and character. And he just didn't feel right, physically; it's not that he felt _sick_, but he didn't feel _good_ either- he felt somewhere in between feeling sick and feeling healthy.

As this stage of the game, Soda wished that he had never concocted the whole idea. Things like: _"I wish I'd never done it"_ and _"Why'd I even do it in the first place?"_ ran through his head. One thing that really stuck out to him that would run through his head as much as the other things was: _"You really like her. That's why you did it. It was the only way you could figure out a way to go out with her at least once."_

There were only two people that Soda had actually told all of this to, and that was his best friend and his younger brother. "I just hate what I did," Soda said with a slight sigh, "And there's nothin' I can do about it now."

At the moment, Steve and Ponyboy were acting like civilized people, all for the sake of the middle Curtis brother- one's best friend, and one's brother. "I still think that it might've happened for a reason," the youngest of the three said with a shrug.

"For once, I agree with the kid," Steve admitted with a shrug and a sigh, "I mean, think about it: her friend Marcia calls you 'bout her bein' in the hospital. She didn't call no one else."

Soda shook his head a bit. "Yes she did. She called their Soc friends, too. Remember?"

"Yeah, but you were the first one she called, and you told all us. Steve told Evie, Two=Bit told Kathy and I told Lily."

"Then when did her friends get there that day?"

"They came after us, then left before us."

A slight smirk formed on his best friends face. "You really like her, don't ya?"

The middle Curtis brother shrugged a bit. "I'm startin' to think that."

Ponyboy gave a slightly confused look. "Is that such a bad thing?"

_At this point, yeah,_ Soda thought. "I don't know yet."

-/-/-

Marcia walked down the stairs behind her cousin- once removed- to the basement of the house. Her own mother was behind her, then behind her was her second cousin. As the four walked down into the basement, they were greeted by three little boys a little girl with bright red hair.

When the four reach the washing machine and the dryer, the four young children all looked in the direction of the other four now in the room who had come to start washing clothes. Little Eric sat on the once brightly colored couch, the little girl with red hair sat at his left, the little boy with the slightly curly afro was on her left, and on the couch arm was the little boy who addressed himself as "Kelso". He was on the arm of the couch, his body facing the rest of his friends, so compared to them, he was seated sideways.

Kitty placed the clothes hamper down and rushed over to the little boy on the armrest. "Oh, Michael," she said in a nervous tone, "Don't sit on the couch like that, you could fall and hit your head."

"I think that already happened when he was a baby, Mrs. Forman," the little curly headed boy smirked.

The older woman let out her signature laugh, but in a nervous way. "Steve, don't say things like that."

Little Eric held in a laugh and ran over to his teenage cousin and tugged gently on her shirt sleeve, ignoring the whining that could be heard by everybody from the boy on the couch arm. "How's your friend?" he asked curiously.

Marcia held back a slight frown. She didn't how Cherry was doing at all, actually. No one had contacted her, and she hadn't contacted anyone back home since she'd left town. If she was being honest with herself, she was afraid to find out how her best friend was doing. She had been feeling pretty good lately about the whole situation, thinking that all that had happened probably happened for a reason. Her positive feelings had been unintentionally show down by a little boy with one innocent and caring question.

"She's doing alright," Marcia answered with a forced smile.

The little boy smiled up at her. "She's feeling better?" he asked happily.

"A little bit, yeah." _She must be a _little_ bit better by now, _she thought as the feeling of guilt filled her body.

-/-/-

Throughout the progression of the week, Cherry had this strange on-off feeling of sadness. It was a weird sadness and when she felt it, she couldn't even tell what had caused it. It wasn't like Soda had done anything to get upset, and quite frankly, no one else had either.

Those around her noticed those emotions and grew silently worried. They all knew that she was depressed when she was emitted into the hospital, but as far as they all knew, she had no clue. If there were right, those feeling of depression had begun to resurface due to the fact that she was gaining her memory back. And even though not everything was there, there was enough to rekindle those old feelings.

"Maybe it's some sort of weird, delayed reaction to shock," Cherry mumbled to herself, then shook it off and continued on with what she was doing.

**This story is so full of angst and sadness, wow. I feel so dark due to the fact that I was able to write half of this stuff (this story was a request, just so you know). Sometimes I feel like this is the depressing version of "Overboard", and I love that movie. I watched it once with my friend through video chat since we go to different schools now and have since when we started tenth grade.**

**I'm rambling and too lazy to backspace.**

**Anyway, I'm going to Alice's Teacup on Sunday in New York City with my two best friend's family (my two friends are sisters). She's turning 22! And no, I don't really have friends my age anymore. It's always a one year or more age difference- don't judge me.**

**By the way, this story request was a certain amount of chapters but I asked if it could be shorter and they said sure. I think in a chapter or two or three, the biggest disaster that I've been planning different way to happen might happen. I'm running out of ideas for this story, plus I'm taking up another fan fic soon (for the expendables) so yeah.**

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter- peace from all the hippies of the world =^-^=**


	21. Chapter 20

Once the group of teenagers from the East Side of Tulsa hit the beginning of the third month of summer- which was also the third month in which the red head had been released from the hospital- they realized things were _not_ improving.

The proof they all had for this was as followed: Cherry's memory should've been almost completely restored and it wasn't even close to being there. Evie had rarely left the house voluntarily in the last month, not to mention that here parent's _still_ weren't home from wherever they were. Soda's guilt slowly- but surely- grew with certain events and scenarios they were thrown into. Dallas had started to become worried- which was definitely a _bad_ thing, considering he never really worried about anyone or anything. Steve was worried about Evie and their situation, not to mention that she'd been acting like a vampire the last couple of weeks. Kathy and Lily still had no clue what was wrong with their one friend since they hadn't seen in her so long.

Life was just too overwhelming, and some of them couldn't figure out what they'd done to deserve all the hardships that had been thrown at them. The only thing any of them could think of to do at this point was stick together like they always had, maybe even closer, and hope for the best with their actions.

-/-/-

Soda and Cherry had been going out on a date at least once a week. They'd also just hang out together whenever they felt like it. It seemed both of them that the other would have a good time when they were together, which was a good thing.

After one of their dates, they decided to go to the local park. "Can I ask you something?" Cherry asked.

Soda nodded. "Course you can," he answered.

Lately, Cherry had been wondering certain things about their relationship, _before_ she woke up in the hospital. Things that were very deep and personal. Things that a person probably wouldn't want to tell their parents about, or maybe not even want to tell their friends about. She'd felt uneasy asking about these things between them, but she just had to know some of those things- and she wasn't gonna wait for herself to suddenly remember these things.

"Ok," Cherry started a bit uneasily, "This feels kinda weird to ask about…"

Soda gave a slight confusing look. "Ok, well, I'll try to answer you as best as I can," he answered her with a small smile.

The redhead let out a deep breath. "Alright… first, I don't remember if I ever asked you this before or not, but have we ever… _ya know_…"

"No." His answer was quick. "We've never… we've never done that. You told me before that you're a virgin and plan on staying that way until you get married."

She chuckled. "Ok, good. Also, in the past four years, have either of us ever said the words… _I love you_?"

Soda felt himself begin to panic. He didn't really know how to answer her second question. He definitely knew that he was _not_ going to say that she had said three of the post powerful words in the American English dictionary, but what about himself? What was he supposed to answer?

After considering everything he had ever felt for her over the last three months and the past year and a half before her arrival at the hospital, he started to quickly think of what to say. Looking back, Soda realized that over the past year and a half, him and Cherry had formed some kind of relationship. Granted, it wasn't strong enough to consider them "boyfriend and girlfriend", but not weak enough to be in "the friend zone".

"No," Soda answered softly, "No, neither of us ever said it."

Cherry frowned a bit. "Oh," she mumbled.

"But the thing is, I planned on saying the next time I saw you- but the next time I saw you, you were in the hospital."

She gave a confused look. "So, what're you saying?"

"I'm saying that… I love you."

-/-/-

Evie had finally caved and agreed to leave the house with her boyfriend. It's not that she didn't want to see Steve, but rather she didn't want anyone in town to see her. She felt self-conscious enough about their situation already, and she really didn't feel like getting judged in front and by nearly everyone in the entire town.

The two had agreed that Evie would go out, as long as she was allowed to wear a _very_ light sweater. Steve had agreed with her request, considering it was night time anyway and nearly fall, so it wouldn't be considered suspicious. Plus, he would've let her wear a snowsuit if she wanted to, as long as she was agreeing to leave the house.

As the two walked through town, Evie let her jet black hair fall in front of the left side of her face. The other half of her face could be seen and that part of her hair was tucked back behind her right ear. She was hugging herself with her left arm while her right arm was at her side and her right hand was intertwined with Steve's left hand as he stood at her right.

"I was perfectly fine with being a recluse," Evie said in her now usually quiet voice as they walked.

"You can't just stay inside all day, every day," Steve said gently, "It ain't healthy for no one."

When the two walked into the Dingo, Evie tucked her head down even more. When she felt eyes from other people in the place watching her every move, she felt her eyes begin to tear up and her cheeks turn pink. She jumped a bit when Steve tightened his grip on her hand and he gave a slightly reassuring smile as he said, "It's alright, just ignore them." She gave the best smile she could muster- which came out as more of a grimace- and nodded a bit at him.

-/-/-

Ponyboy and Lily walked into the Dingo, with him making sure he held the door for her as they walked in. His action made her chuckle and her cheeks turn a slight shade of pink. They walked to a booth that was right in the corner between two windows, which unconsciously gave the two a view of nearly everyone in the Dingo and nearly everything going on.

The two had been an official couple for a little over a month. Over that time, Ponyboy had received a very small amount of threats from Two-Bit about dating Lily. Most of the time the threats were along the lines of "You better not hurt her". That was said multiple times throughout the month. And whenever the two went out on a date, the older Mathews sibling always made sure to give the two a curfew- one that worked for Darry as well- which always ended up being somewhere in between ten and ten-thirty that night. And he would also threaten that if there was ever any funny business between the two, they would be chaperoned on their dates by either himself and Kathy, or Soda and Cherry.

Otherwise, Two-Bit had been pretty laid back about the two of them going out.

"We have 'bout an hour before tonight's curfew," Lily said with a laugh, "What should we do?"

Ponyboy let out a laugh. "Paint the town red?" he teased with a shrug.

She chuckled. "Ok, it's official- you've either been spending too much time with either my brother or your brother."

As the two talked, they saw two people walk out of the Dingo. The couple looked a lot like two of their friends. "That was Steve and Evie," Lily said quietly, "I hope they're alright."

"I'm gonna try to ask Sodapop tomorrow what's goin' on with them," Ponyboy said.

"You sure he'll know what's wrong?"

"Yeah, he'll know. Steve tells him everything."

-/-/-

Cherry looked at Soda with slightly wide eyes. She would be lying if she said that she wasn't taken back by his words, but she wasn't very disappointed by his words either. The thing was, she wasn't quite sure what she should say back.

Cherry tried to think of what to say next. She thought about everything that had happened in the past couple of months. She thought about everything that she had remembered from before waking up in the hospital. She thought about everything she'd been told and that they had been through. After taking everything into consideration, she knew what she would say back to him.

"I love you, too," Cherry said slightly looking down, then up at her boyfriend.

When she looked up, she saw that Soda started to smile at her words, and she couldn't help but smile back.

**Awwww, how cute. Such a sweet chapter… but the next chapter brings disaster for Cherry and Evie.**

**So I think I mentioned about Alice's Teacup for my best friend's birthday last time I updated, we ended up taking a rain check- literally. But then that Friday (January ) we went to NYC for my mom's birthday- we went up to all nine floors of the Macy's in Herald Square!**

**Anyway, I'll be starting another new story soon, so five at once- wish me luck. It's gonna be for **_**The Expendables**_** trilogy (so far, a trilogy, there's rumors about a fourth one coming up). So yeah.**

**Also- Rest in Peace, David Bowie. I've heard your music nearly all my life and it's hard to believe you're gone. I remember imitating the word Fame in "Fame" with my mom ever since I was three or four years old, years before I would become a fan of yours. And always love seeing the quote at the beginning of **_**The Breakfast Club**_** from "Changes". You are missed by many different age groups, and have affected us all.**

**Alright- peace from all the hippies of the world. =^-^=**


	22. Chapter 21

"You're finally gonna tell her, huh?" Two-Bit asked.

Soda nodded. "After last night, I just can't do this anymore," he sighed.

Steve gave a confused look. 'Wait, what happened last night then? You two didn't-" he started.

"No!" Soda's answer was quick. "We didn't do _that_, and that's what I told her. It's somethin' else I said. That we both said, actually.

"Well, what'd y'all say then?" A confused look made its way to Two-Bit's face.

Soda wasn't sure if he should answer, and if he did, what to say. What would he say? He couldn't just blurt out to these two that he said that he loved her, and that she said it back. Of course, when he said it to the redhead he meant it, but he couldn't tell the two in front of him. If he did, he wouldn't hear the end of it till the end of the century. If he was talking with Ponyboy and _only_ Ponyboy, that'd be different. But he _wasn't_ talking with his little brother, he was talking with his best friend and the jokester of the gang- and sometimes, there was no difference between the two.

Soda shook his head. "Memories," he decided on saying.

-/-/-

"You both said _I love you_?" Kathy asked in slight shock.

Cherry had told Evie, Kathy and Lily- after a lot of haggling- the events of her date with Soda from the night before. The three had been making "oooh" sounds to the cute and romantic gestures, but when she told them what both him and herself had said at the end of the night, all their eyes went wide. She couldn't figure out exactly why they were the way they were about it. She thought they would be happy for her- at least a little bit.

"Yeah," Cherry nodded, "He said it first then I did."

"You didn't say it just cause he did, right?" Lily asked.

A confused look formed the redhead's facial features. "How do you mean?"

"Some people do that," Evie said in a quiet tone as she shrugged, "This one ex-boyfriend I had said it to me. I almost said it back too so I didn't seem like a complete jerk."

"But sayin' it without meanin' it is as good as breaking up with someone," Kathy pointed out.

A small smirk formed Evie's lips. "I know… that's why I didn't say it, and broke up with him a week later."

"Better than sayin' something you didn't mean," Lily said with a shrug.

"Either way, when I said it last night, I meant it." The redhead finished and sat back in her seat on the couch. "And he did too."

-/-/-

Later in the day, Soda called Cherry to ask her if they could meet at the park that evening. She had agreed, but not without asking what they would be doing. He said that he wasn't quite sure and that it was Steve and Evie's idea, so they'd be there too.

Before the two girls were supposed to meet up with their boyfriends, Evie said she had to go to the store. Cherry had decided to go with her, since Esther was with a few friends for the week, so it wasn't like they were leaving her home alone _again_. But either way, someone had to get food in the house, and their parents sure weren't there to do it- they were still off wherever the hell they ran off to months previous to the present time.

The two girls got into the car they had- which was Evie's first car that she'd had since 1965- and started to the store. The store was near the other end of the town, but not near Soc territory, so that was a good thing. Evie took the driver's seat while Cherry took the passenger's seat.

"So you and Steve thought of goin' to the park tonight?" Cherry asked her friend.

"Evie shrugged slightly, keeping her eyes on the road. "More Steve and Soda, mostly Steve," she answered, "I just know we're all goin' to the park tonight."

That was a lie. Evie _did_ know why they were all going to the park, and it was all Soda's idea to go. The reason he was taking Cherry to the park was cause he was going to tell her the truth and the whole truth. The reason Steve and Evie were going to be there as well was in case anything happened when he told her everything. And by anything- they meant something bad.

As the continued to the grocery store, they drove past the DX. They turned the corner of the block the DX was located on and drove a few feet. The next thing they knew, screams were heard as they met head on with an out of control car coming their way.

-/-/-

As Soda and Steve worked in the garage of the DX, they heard a loud _crash_ sound and the shattering of glass. A confused look found ways onto the faces of both boys as they set down their tools. "What the hell was that?" Soda mumbled. One of their fellow co-workers came rushing into the garage.

"There was a car accident right around the corner, call nine- one- one," the co-worker said in an urgent tone of voice.

Steve nodded and rushed over to the phone as Soda ran out of the garage and to the back lot of the DX, where you could see the accident clearly. He ran to the sidewalk where people had already started to gather. One car was tilted the wrong way in the street and, based off the damage that he could see, it was obviously the car that caused the accident.

The second car was smaller and was completely totaled. The front end was dented and bent beyond repair. The front window was shattered into a million tiny pieces of glass spread out all over the road and what was left of the hood, along with the few pieces that were hanging on like threads to the window frame. The same went for the headlights. And on the inside, the new airbags were slightly deflated after opening due to the impact from the opposite car.

Steve came running up next to Soda just as the sound of sirens were heard. His eyes widened in shock at the sight in front of them in the middle of the road. As he continued to look at the cars involved in the accident, he felt his eyes widen even more and heart began to pound in his chest.

"Holy shit," Steve muttered.

Soda looked at his best friend with a confused expression. "What's wrong?" he asked.

He swallowed hard. "Uh… doesn't the car that's nearly completely destroyed look kinda familiar to you?" His voice was shaking.

"It's kinda hard to tell right now since-"

"Look at the license plate."

Soda cautiously did as his best friend said and when he did, his reaction was exactly the same.

The two watched nervously as the firemen began to use a special saw to break away pieces of the car. As soon as that was done, a couple of paramedics began to take the passengers- who were both unconscious- out of the car and place them urgently but gently onto stretchers and into the ambulances. When Soda and Steve were able to see who the passengers were, they ran as quickly as they could toward the scene of the accident.

A cop stopped them before either of them could reach either of the two ambulances. "Whoa, boys," he said, "You can't get any closer than this."

"You don't understand," Soda said urgently, "The girl with red hair over there is my girlfriend."

Steve nodded. "Yeah, and the girl with black hair is my girlfriend," he said.

The cop gave a skeptical look. "How do I know neither a' you are lying?"

The two boys thought for a moment before Soda jumped slightly, took out his wallet and dug around it before taking out a picture. The picture was of himself, Cherry, Steve and Evie with Two-Bit coming in to ruin the photo. The four were laughing at their jokester friend. The redhead was leaning back against Soda, his arm wrapped around her shoulders as they laughed at their friend. The girl with hair as dark as a raven had her arms wrapped around her boyfriend's torso and he had one arm around her shoulders. When you turned the photo over, it had the date written on it as _Summer 1968_, proving that it was at least from a few months previous.

As the cop looked at the picture, a small smile formed his lips. "Ok," he said, handing back the photo, "The redhead's in that one, raven hair's in that one."

The two boys said a quick "thank you" before running to each of the ambulances that the officer had pointed to.

They both were questioned how they got through, but the cop followed each of them to tell everyone that he had given them special clearance due to personal reason. Since the police officer they were confronted by was the police chief, no one could argue with him or question his reason for clearance.

"I hope they're both ok,' the cop said to himself as the ambulances started off as quickly as possible, their sirens blaring and their lights on.

**Heavy feels, whoa. This story is so full of angst- that just proves I've been watching too much "Days of our Lives".**

**I won't be updating before Valentine's Day and Galentine's Day (if you watch "Parks and Recreation", you know what that is) so- HAPPY GALENTINE'S DAY AND HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!**

**Anyway, I have nothing to say- so hope you enjoyed the chapter and peace from all the hippies of the world! =^-^=**


	23. Chapter 22

"_Hi, my name's Marcia."_

"_We could go to the drive in? How 'bout that?"_

"_But they said they'd come back home today!"_

"_Don't do this. _Please_, don't."_

"_Your parents left… and they're never coming back, they said. At least that's what their note said."_

"_She said she doesn't want pity!"_

"_I'm sorry. You're probably wondering who I am. My name's Evie."_

"_This _is _what I said on our first date."_

"_How was your date with Soda?"_

"_I came here to see a movie and I'm gonna see a movie!"_

"_You'll always be my little princess, no matter what."_

"_Well, would like, continue being my girlfriend?"_

"_Am I showing?"_

"_The only thing I'm allergic to is a bee sting, and even then, it isn't too bad of an allergy."_

"_Why don't we go to the DX? Seeing Sodapop always makes you feel better cause he knows how to make you laugh."_

"_You weren't in the best place a while before you were in the hospital…"_

"_Aren't you Cherry? From the West Side?"_

"_Is Cary Grant trying to kill Joan Fontaine, Mom?"_

"_Maybe it's some weird, delayed reaction to shock."_

"_A little? You call reeling and passing out in the streets 'a little'?"_

"_I wasn't trying to give you charity, Ponyboy. I only wanted to help."_

"_Can you see the sunset real good from the West Side?"_

"_I was perfectly fine with being a recluse."_

"_But sayin' it without meanin' it as good as breaking up with someone."_

"_I'm saying that… I love you."_

These were just some of the things that were popping into Cherry's head. Her brain was all over the place, yet she felt paralyzed, and she couldn't figure out why this was happening or what was going on. Every time she would try to move- which she didn't have a lot of chances to try with everything flying and popping into her head- it was like something was holding her back. She just couldn't figure out what is was that was actually holding her back. And it was driving her nuts.

"_Is she gonna be alright?"_ Cherry heard in a familiar voice, but couldn't quite make it out at the moment.

"_It's kinda hard to tell right now,_" another voice above her said, though this one wasn't familiar, _"But her breathing is good, so that's definitely a good sign. I can promise you that."_

Cherry wasn't quite sure, but even with the feeling of being paralyzed flowing through her body, she thought she felt something wrap around her hand- at least what she believed to be was her hand- and squeeze it tight. The first thing she felt for a while.

-/-/-

Steve was Evie's left side. His right hand was wrapped around her left hand, his left hand on top of her forehead. She had already woken up, but was still barely conscious, and had been fading in and out of consciousness. She was also shaking, so much that she reminded him of a small dog. It didn't help the situation at all that the EMT said her legs- along with a few different areas of her body- were practically covered in blood.

"You're gonna be alright," Steve said in a voice that was so quiet that only he could hear it, "Both of you will be. You have to be."

The EMT looked up at Steve's words, which he magically heard somehow, with a confused look on his face. "Both of who?" he asked.

"She's 'bout four months pregnant."

The EMT seemed to get tense at Steve's words. The man got up from his seat in the ambulance and to the EMT in the passenger's seat. Steve couldn't quite hear what the man was saying to the other, but based off of his reaction, he had an idea that it wasn't too good.

"What's wrong?" Steve asked a bit nervously.

"I didn't know she was pregnant," the EMT answered, "And cause of the accident, I wanna make sure nothing bad happened to her or the baby."

"What're you saying?..."

"The way the accident was, and the impact of that new airbag, something may or may not have happened to the baby more than her."

Steve felt his heart beat quicken at the EMT's words, already faster than it already was beating- probably wasn't healthy for his heart to beat at fast as it was now, even for only being eighteen. At this point, both him and Evie had grown attached to their unborn child. After all the past weeks, and everything that had happened over the summer so far, it was kind of hard _not_ to grow attached to the baby. And now, if something happened to the baby in the car crash, he didn't know how he would be- and that especially went for Evie. If something happened, he knew she'd think it was her fault, and she'd be mad at herself for letting it happen.

"Please be ok," Steve whispered desperately.

-/-/-

Soda looked down at Cherry. She was motionless with the exception of her torso rising up and down slightly, showing that she was breathing. But even with her breathing fine on her own, the EMT had still placed an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth to make sure that she was still breathing. And that if for some reason she could no longer breathe on her own- though the EMT said that was unlikely with how well she was breathing on her own- the mask was already there to help her.

Every so often, Soda would see Cherry make a face or slightly move her head side to side; though that could have just been the gravity of the ambulance. He could definitely tell when she would make a face, but it was always one that seemed to be of either confusion, discomfort, or fear. Either way, between the faces she made and the slight movement of her head, it was a weird comfort to him, taking it as a sign that she was responding to things.

"Does she have any health conditions or allergies that you know of?" the EMT asked, gaining his attention.

Soda looked up. "Uh, yeah," he answered, "I'm pretty sure she's allergic to bee stings."

"Ok. Anything else? Health conditions or something? Just so we already have an idea when we get to the hospital."

"Well, at the beginning of the summer she got a concussion and temporary amnesia."

"Do you what it was caused by?"

Soda hesitated a bit. "If I'm right… let's just say she had been dealing with depression."

The EMT nodded a bit, sadly. "Has she fully recovered from the amnesia?"

He shook his head. "No, not yet. Is that a bad thing?"

"To be honest, it's not great," the EMT answered, "But it's not terrible. Cause then we can't really be sure how her memory's gonna be when she wakes up. Get what I mean? She could either be right back to where she was at the beginning of the summer, remembering everything and the amnesia's gone, only remember certain things, remember everything except a few things. It could go any number of ways, ya know?"

Soda nodded. "Yeah," he answered, "Yeah, I got it."

-/-/-

Ponyboy and Lily sat on the front steps of the house Curtis house, both finishing up specific things for their summer reading projects. They both had to read three books for the summer, but they were different from each other, of course. But since she was a grade above him, if he needed any help with his project- which was unlikely- she could help since she had already done the projects he was currently doing.

The two looked up when the sound of the phone ringing from inside the house started. Ponyboy got up from his place on the steps, placed his notebook and books on the edge of the porch, and walked inside the house. Lily tucked a strand of her naturally blonde hair behind her ear and watched through the screen door as he walked into the house and over to the phone.

Lily continued to listen as he talked on the phone. "Hello?" Ponyboy started, "He's not here, he's at work. I'm his youngest brother… no, he's at work, too… what do you mean? I saw him leave this mornin'… oh, is he alright?... both of 'em? That's real weird… _oh!_ Oh, man, is everyone alright?... oh, man." He let out a sigh. "Yeah, I'll be right there. Thanks… yeah, I'll tell my older brother what happened." Then he hung up the phone.

"Everything alright?" Lily asked unsurely as she stood up from her spot on the porch.

Ponyboy shook his head. "No," he answered with a sigh, "There was a car accident right by the DX 'bout an hour ago."

Her eyes widened a bit. "Oh my gosh… are Steve and Soda alright?"

"Yeah. Yeah, they're fine. They weren't near the accident when it happened."

"Wait, if they're alright, what happened?"

"One of the cars in the accident was Evie's. And both Evie and Cherry were inside the car. They're at the hospital now and Soda and Steve are with them."

Lily's hands flew to her mouth in shock. "We need to go there right now to make sure they're both ok."

Ponyboy nodded and the two dashed away from the house and started toward the hospital on foot, making sure they stopped where the oldest Curtis brother worked to tell him what happened.

-/-/-

Marcia folded her last couple articles of clothing and placed them neatly in her suitcase. Once she finished placing her clothes in the bag, she zipped the bag shut and placed it on the floor. She then went over to the drawer in the room, took out her smaller and more personal belongings, and packed them all into her smaller- yet still spacious- duffel bag.

Before Marcia placed the items in her bag, she caught sight of the cards her two little cousins had given her at the beginning of the summer to give to Cherry. She placed her items on the bed and gingerly took the two handmade cards out of the bag. She opened them both and inspected both cards in their entirety as a small smile formed her face. She put the cards aside, placed her belongings into the bag, then placed both cards gingerly on the top before closing the bag shut.

"I hope she doesn't hate me after leaving her alone like that," Marcia said to herself quietly, "I can't lose my friend."

**Update. Update. Update. Update. Update. It's that time of the two weeks (I update all my stories every other week from Wednesday, Thursday and Friday- it's on my calendar.)**

**I told the next chapter spelled disaster. Did you believe me? I have no idea, but yeah- here it is.**

**Hope everyone had a wonderful Galentine's Day (if you don't watch Parks and Recreation, you probably have no idea what that is. Simply go online and look it up, and you will find what it is) and a great Valentine's Day, even if you are single (if you are, as of 2-17-2016, I understand cause I've never had a boyfriend and my crush had to move out of state with his family, but anyhow). **

**Oh also, just for a laugh after the sadness in this chapter- go on youtube and search "north and south book 1 – orry and brett in the study" and if you don't want to watch the whole video, skip to 4:10 and watch up to 4:15. That's the funny part, not everything else in that scene, only 4:10 to 4:15 is funny even though the whole scene is supposed to be dramatic. You will be laughing your head off at those five seconds, I promise.**

**Oh by the way, those beginning quotes in italics, some of them were from the original "The Outsiders", one or two were from the movie, a few were from this story, and a few were new ones. So yeah. There ya go.**

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter, and peace from all the hippies of the world! =^-^=**


	24. Chapter 23

"The nurse called Ponyboy and Darry for me," Soda said as he sat back down next to his best friend.

Both Soda and Steve had been told to stay in the emergency room waiting area. The two had tried to explain the situation in hopes of being able to go in, but the nurse had said they could make no exceptions to anyone who wanted to get in to know what was going on. The only people who were allowed to a certain point were the patient's parents or legal guardian, and even they had to have some sort of proof that they were the parent of legal guardian of the person.

Even if the two were allowed to go in, they'd still had to wait. But if they were waiting on the inside, they'd be able to be more in the loop of things than they were in the emergency room waiting area. There were no nurses or doctors they could ask about what was going on or how everything was going or how Evie and Cherry were doing. All they could really do in the waiting area was sit and wait, and maybe watch bits and pieces of those god-forsaken "daytime dramas" that were playing on the televisions in the waiting area.

Hell, with those playing on the televisions in the waiting area, the two teenage boys would ever stoop low enough to start reading one of those _Cosmopolitan_ magazines that women were so intrigued by.

"I wish they would tell us how the hell they're doin'," Steve grumbled, not hearing his best friend's words.

"I know," Soda answered with a sigh, "I don't see why they can't at least tell us what's goin' on."

"Yeah, I know. How long have we been waiting now?"

"Long enough, I can tell you that much. It's drivin' me nuts."

Steve let out a slight chuckle. "Sitting still for five minutes drives you nuts."

"You got a point there," Soda admitted with a laugh.

In reality, the two had been waiting for a period of two hours at that point, but neither of them had been keeping track.

-/-/-

Ponyboy and Lily sat in the truck with Darry. One their way toward the hospital, they had stopped by where the oldest Curtis brother worked. When they told him the situation, he was able to take the rest of the day off without getting his pay cut due to the situation.

As Darry drove, he couldn't help but think about the two girls. Cherry still had amnesia- would that affect how she healed and recovered from the accident? How would her memory be? Would she be able to remember everything and her amnesia would be gone? Would she only remember everything _before_ she got amnesia? Would she only be able to remember everything from_ after_ the amnesia? Would she be able to even remember _anything_, or would they be back right where they started?

And what about Evie? She was nearly four and half months pregnant. Darry had heard about women who'd been in car accidents while they were pregnant and the baby died. Would that happened to her? Would she be ok? Would the baby be ok? Would only one of them be ok? Would they both be hurt in some way?

Darry pulled into the parking lot of the emergency room. He got out from his car along with his youngest brother and the younger Mathews sibling and the three practically ran into the lobby and waiting area of the emergency room. He made sure to ask the nurse about Cherry and Evie- using their real names, which were most likely the names on all of their health records, Sherri Valance and Evelyn Smith. The nurse at the desk told the three that they had to wait with the two other boys waiting for news about the two girls, and they did as they were told.

"Are you both alright?" Darry asked as he sat down.

"Yeah," Soda nodded, "Physically, at least. Mentally, we're terrible."

"Just a couple of nervous wrecks," Steve sighed.

"Look," Darry said, "No matter what happens to any of them, we are going to take care of them, alright? And that's gonna go for everyone."

-/-/-

Both Ponyboy and Lily slightly relaxed since arriving at the hospital. Not to say that they weren't worried about Cherry and Evie, but they guess that seeing that Soda and Steve were physically alright was somewhat comforting. It was like there were less people to worry about at that point.

As the two older Curtis brothers and their friend talked, Ponyboy and Lily talked to take their minds off of the situation at hand. She acknowledged the daytime drama that was playing on a local station since it was later than they usually played "Soap Operas"; a local station in town had part of the rights to air the shows on their station at a certain time that was later so the people who wanted to watch those shows who weren't home every day during the early afternoon could still see them.

"My mom watches those," Lily said.

Ponyboy gave a weird look. "She does?" he asked.

"Yeah. Since she's a private nurse, she has this patient during the afternoon that she watches it with. It's called _Days of our Lives._"

"What kind of title is that?"

"Beats me. I just know women all over the country watch these things every day, five days a week at the same time every day for an hour every day. And there's more than one of these types of shows, and they go on at different times on different stations."

"Why do women watch those?"

Lily shrugged. "No clue, I just know married woman who are housewives usually watch them. Honestly, they don't appeal to me, ya know? I mean, I've tried watching those things on days we don't got school or something before, but I couldn't do it. The plots are so complicated and elaborate, but they're just so ridiculous. Not to mention that the acting ain't so great."

Ponyboy couldn't figure out- based on what Lily was telling him- why people would wanna watch those shows. If the plots were so complicated and ridiculous, what was the point? How could a person follow a show like that? And then he started to think about how the characters might be. Then Lily had said that the acting was bad, and that was a total deal breaker.

"Gosh," Ponyboy breathed out, "That sure is odd."

"Yeah, I know," Lily laughed, "And don't get me started on those _Cosmopolitan_ magazines."

-/-/-

Steve's heart was beating a mile a minute and continued to quicken in pace as he waited. He couldn't help but to begin to think the worst case scenario as they all waited for news on Cherry and Evie's current condition. _What the hell is taking them so long?_ he thought angrily as he got up from his seat and headed toward the front door. He saw his best friend start to follow him in concern from the corner of his eye, but he turned and said to him, "I just need a moment." Soda just nodded and went back to his seat.

Steve walked out the front entrance of the emergency room and sat down on a nearby bench. He debated whether or not he should have a cigarette to ease his nerves, and maybe even to pass the time a little. He wasn't sure if he should or not, considering he was one of those people that believed you shouldn't be smoking around or in a hospital. But for the first time in his life, he would smoke while he was at the hospital. _At least I'm not doin' it inside of one,_ he thought rationally.

Steve lit his cigarette then took a drag. He wasn't really much of a smoker in general, considering it took him two weeks to two months to finish just one pack. He didn't even finish those whole packs on his own cause he'd end up giving a cigarette or two to someone else who wanted one, and it would just empty out. And lately, since his girlfriend had gotten pregnant, he really didn't smoke anymore.

"Aren't you a little young to be smokin' that? Especially 'round here?" a man called.

Steve jumped at the voice and looked up from his spot on the bench. When he did, he saw Angelo Robertson walked up to him, smiling at his joke. He gave an embarrassed smile back at the older man. "Hey, Angel," he greeted, "How's your hand?"

"It's doin' fine, thanks, Steve," Angel greeted happily, "How're you doin'?"

"I'm ok, I guess. What're you doin' here?"

"Well, my daughter just started working here, so I came to visit her here like the embarrassing yet proud father I am. I should be asking you what you asked me, though, if you don't mind? And how's that girlfriend a' yours?"

Steve looked down as he stomped out the barely touched cigarette. "She's actually the reason I'm here again," he sighed, "Cause last time I saw you, we found out she was pregnant."

"Oh, wow. Congratulations, kid."

"Well, thanks. But she was in a car accident right by the DX today, and my best friend's girlfriend was in the car too. We saw it before, and it was pretty bad. And it doesn't help that my girlfriend was about four months, and his girlfriend had temporary amnesia…"

Angel's face fell. "Steve, I'm so sorry that happened. Have the nurses told either of you how they're doin'?"

"Not a thing."

"Alright, what're their names? And not nicknames, their birth names, first and last."

"Sherri Valance and Evelyn Smith."

Angel nodded then went inside the emergency room entrance. Steve watched as the older man went to the front desk and talked to the nurse there. A moment later, a young women came out into the waiting area from the inside of the emergency room. When she saw the older man, she smiled and ran to hug him. The two talked happily for a moment before a serious expression spread across his face. She responded to what he said in an equally serious expression before the two smiled and hugged again before parting ways. The older man then walked back outside.

"Was that your daughter?" Steve asked.

Angel nodded proudly. "Yeah," he smiled, "My little girl, Mackenzie. My only daughter, she's got three brothers. Anyway, you'll be happy to hear that she's the doctor of both Sherri and Evelyn since she was the head doctor in the emergency room at the moment, so that makes them her patients. I asked her how they were doing and she said they're both being moved to their own private rooms in the ICU right now. Their rooms are gonna be right next to each other."

"Will we be able to see them soon?"

"In five to ten minutes, my daughter's gonna go to the waiting area and call for you and your friend, bring you both to their rooms, then get the rest of your friends."

Steve couldn't help but smile at what he'd been told. "Angel, thank you so much. What can I do to thank you?"

Angel smiled. "It wasn't a problem, kid. Look, if you wanna thank me, call my house and tell me how them girls are doin'. You're all too young to be goin' through this kind of pressure."

"Alright, I'll do that."

"And who knows, maybe some time I can meet them."

Steve smiled as Angel wrote down his house number for them all. "They'd like you," the younger man smiled.

Angel handed him the paper with his house number. "Make sure to call and tell me how they're doin', ok? Especially how you're girlfriend and baby are."

Steve nodded and the two men parted ways. He sat back down in his seat and told the four who were waiting for him everything he knew about the two girls.

And just like Angel had said, exactly ten minutes later, his daughter walked into the waiting area and called for Steve and Soda, and told the other three she'd be back for them in a few minutes.

**This chapter was very dramatic. I should write plot lines for Days of our Lives, it's so dramatic (I watch Days of our Lives, ok?) and did you like my reference to it? XP**

**So Angel is pretty much going to become the father figure in their lives, just a heads up. And by the way, my original plans for Steve and Evie changed, cause I can't go through with my original plan. It makes me feel like a terrible person if I went through with my original plans, so it'll be somewhat happy but it won't be. **

**Anyway, did watch the academy awards this past Sunday? Leo finally won- no more jokes about him never getting one. Plus I'm mad that Sylvester Stallone didn't win best supporting actor for Creed, but I'm happy Dave Grohl was the one chosen to play the memoriam song cause I absolutely love Foo Fighters.**

**Anyway, I have SAT's this weekend so please wish me luck. I'm scared out of my mind about it, and I have no idea what Trigonometry is. Plus there's a good chance people in my class from my old school with be there, and I'm nervous about that cause none of us have kept in contact really since I left there. So yeah, I'm scared for a number of reasons.**

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter. Peace form all the hippies of the world! =^-^=**


	25. Chapter 24

**Slight warning- brief mention of depression and suicide attempt. If you have a problem in any way with this, briefly skip over that part, if you want to message me about it, go right ahead. **

"Sherri Valance is kind of groggy right now, but she's awake," Mackenzie Robertson said, "We're not quite sure how her memory is just yet, but we're very optimistic."

"What about Evie?" Steve asked nervously.

"She won't be awake for a little while. She was in a lot of pain, and she lost more blood than we would have liked. Due to her pregnancy, it was a bit harder procedure, considering the accident caused her to go into premature labor. Thankfully, she was farther along than you thought and told the EMT, so that's a good thing."

"Can we see them?" Soda asked.

Mackenzie smiled and nodded. "Soda, I'll lead you to Sherri's room and explain some things, then once we get there, I'll go back and tell your brothers and your friend about both girls. Steve, Dr. Kendrick is going to take you to Evelyn's room and explain about her case, since she knows more about that sort of stuff than I do."

As she said that, another young female doctor approached them as they walked. "Hello," she smiled, "I'm Dr. Sheila Kendrick. Steve, if you'll follow me please, I will take you to see your girlfriend now."

-/-/-

That usual feeling of guilt began to fill Soda's body. This time, it was as if someone was filling a glass with water, and the glass had already begun to overflow, but for some reason the person kept filling the glass. It was the worst he'd ever felt in his life and he felt that it would never end and never go away. And he had no doubt in his mind that it would not change.

As Soda and Mackenzie walked down and through the halls, she explained what Cherry had gone through and how she was doing. He felt bad when he had to keep asking what certain words and phrases she was saying meant, but she simply smiled and answered every question. To comfort him, she had made sure to tell him that it was not unusual for those who were not in the medical field to not understand what the doctors would say, and that sometimes other doctors wouldn't even understand everything they were told. What she had told him had relieved him somewhat, but the guilt feeling was still there.

"Alright," Dr. Mackenzie Robertson started, gaining his attention, "Sherri Valance, she's your girlfriend, right?"

Soda nodded. "Yeah, she is," he answered, "For a while now."

"Ok then, do you mind if I ask you a few questions about her? Kind of to get a better understanding of a few things in her medical history and health."

"No, that's fine."

The doctor gave an appreciative smile. "Alright, great. She was admitted here a few months ago at the beginning of the summer, is this right?" When Soda nodded, she continued, "Do you know anything about why she was found the way she was before she was admitted- unconscious and on the top of a car?"

"She was depressed at the time and she, well… she tried…"

"Ok, that's as far as you have to go for that one. I get it. Next, I have here that she'd been suffering from amnesia since then. Has she fully regained her memory back yet?"

"No. She always said that she felt she remembered a lot, but there was still a lot that was still missing… can I ask something?"

"Of course you can."

"Will that have any effect when she wakes up? Like, how's her memory gonna be?" Soda asked.

"It's very hard to tell at the moment, considering she only recently woke up. And even so, she's still very out of it and groggy, but that's normal. We planned on giving her some sort of examination tomorrow after it's been twenty-four hours, cause by then, her brain and body would have had time to relax and calm down from the accident. Does that make any sense to you?"

Mackenzie continued to explain anything she could in response to Soda's question. She explained her memory could be fully restored, or everything could be gone and they'd all be back at square one like at the beginning of the summer. She explained that she might only remember everything _before_ the summer, or that she could remember everything only _after_ the summer began since she had first gotten amnesia. Either way, she had made sure to say that her and the Neurologist- the brain doctor- were optimistic about her memory, and that it might even be fully restored.

"And here we are," Mackenzie said when they walked up to a room, "Room two-hundred and twenty-six, Sherri Valance."

"Thanks," Soda mumbled.

"If either of you need anything, don't hesitate to call me, since I'm her doctor- considering I was the head doctor when you all arrived. So in the future, since she will have to have a few checkups after she is released, just to make sure everything is going alright, I'll be the one doing them. And the same goes for Evelyn Smith. I'll be back soon to check on them both."

"Ok." Soda nodded then opened the door to room 226 slowly and walked in as she walked away.

-/-/-

This may seem a bit complicated while I'm explain, maybe even a bit awkward," Dr. Sheila Kendrick said with a nervous chuckle, "But if you get confused about anything, don't hesitate to ask, alright?"

Steve nodded. "Alright," he agreed.

In all honesty, Steve was nervous to hear what the doctor was going to tell him. He was nervous, and he was definitely scared, that was for sure. He was also afraid how he react to anything she had to say and that she would tell him, whether it was something good or something bad. The whole thing just had him scared, nervous, and jumpy.

"In the ambulance," Sheila started, bring him back to reality, "You told the EMT that Evelyn Smith was about four months pregnant, right?"

"Yeah, that's right," Steve confirmed with a nod.

"Well we had to do some quick tests and checks before we did anything and we found she was a little more than six months along, about half way or three-fourths to seven months."

"Is that a good thing?"

"In this case, yes. In usual circumstances, two to three months early would not be the most desirable- but like I said, considering the circumstances, it's a good thing. At that point, she was already in labor, and after the examination, it was safer for her to deliver the baby naturally rather than surgically. Our main goal was to protect Evelyn and the baby."

Steve's heart began to pound in his chest as the doctor's words. "Is Evie ok?"

"She's just fine. She should be waking up soon now. When she wakes up, if she is sore and uncomfortable, that's expected due to what she's been through today. It will most likely be strongest in her torso, back and legs, but like I said, it's expected and completely normal."

His heart began to pound even harder as his next question ran through his head. "Is that baby ok?"

Dr. Sheila Kendrick gave a comforting smile. "Your baby girl is just fine," she answered, "In the future, she may have some minor health problems, but based on past and present cases when the baby was as early as you and Evelyn's, it's nothing that's untreatable."

Steve felt himself start to smile unconsciously as Dr. Kendrick led him to and walked up to room 227. "We'll bring you two your daughter once one of you presses the button for a nurse or doctor," she said, "Whenever you two are ready." She smiled at him, and he couldn't help but give a small smile back as he nodded and started to open the door.

-/-/-

Soda nervously sat in the seat next to the head of Cherry's hospital bed. As he said down, her head started to turn slowly in his direction away from the view of the city through the window in her room. She looked at him for a moment as she flinched while she tried to reposition herself in the bed, searching for a more comfortable position to sit up in as best as she could.

"Hi, Cherry," Soda said quietly. He had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach due to the nervousness and guilt that had come over and taken control over his entire body, even his mind.

After a moment or two, Cherry gave a small and weak- but still present- smile. "Hi, Soda," the redhead said in a quiet tone of voice.

Soda felt his usual and in character smile from the shape and deep features of his face. "You remember me."

"Why wouldn't I?" Her voice was a bit weak and quiet, but he could still hear her. "I still can't remember everything, but it's getting there."

Soda couldn't help the weak smile that formed. _Now we just wait and see what happens,_ he thought nervously, thinking over the last couple months that he wished he could take back.

-/-/-

As if on cue, when Steve reached Evie, her eyes fluttered open. She was slightly pale from what he guessed to be blood loss from the car accident. But otherwise, with exception of a few cuts and scrapes and bruises scattered around the surface of her body from head to toe- and a hurt ankle, apparently- she didn't look to be too physically injured, and he was happy that seemed to be it. He also knew that he couldn't have been happier that she was ok, and so was their baby.

"Hey there," Steve whispered and ran his hand gently through a part of her jet black hair, "How ya feelin'?"

Evie flinched as she tried to find a comfortable position. "Like I was hit by a truck and had a baby," she breathed out, half serious and half teasing, "Is that baby ok? Did they tell you anything?"

He sneakily pressed the nurse's button like he'd been told to as he nodded. "They said she might have a few health problems when she's older, but other than that, she's gonna be alright."

A few minutes later, a nurse walked into the room, causing a confused look to form Evie's facial features. The nurse quietly and gently walked toward the two, something wrapped in a pink blanket in her arms that she eventually transferred into Evie's arms. Her and Steve couldn't help but smile at the tiny baby girl.

After debating about a name for ten minutes, the two decided to name their baby girl: Layla Estelle Randle… Evie didn't like how "Randle-Smith" was spelled and sounded.

**I had names choices for their baby, but I had the music choice "classic rock" station on and "Layla" by Derek and the Dominos was playing as I typed this last bit and I love that song, so yeah. And Estelle, I already had chosen and got from actress Estelle Getty's name (she was Sophia Petrillo in **_**The Golden Girls**_**, and played Stallone's mother in **_**Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot**_**, which I love). And then "Lookin' Out My Back Door" by Creedence Clearwater Revival was playing, and now "Only Women Bleed" by Alice Cooper is playing. (I love all three, so I have no problem)**

**I changed the part with Steve and Evie from my original plans as the story progressed on. I was gonna have it the she had a miscarriage cause of the accident, but I couldn't do it. I just couldn't do it, so I asked my best friend's opinion on it, and she helped me figure out what to do- so Sara, if you see this, THANK YOU MY BUDDY. **

**Anyway, hope you like everything with Cherry and Soda and Evie and Steve so far- cause disaster strikes soon for Cherry and Soda (which is the main idea of the story)- peace from all the hippies of the world (and Alice Cooper). =^-^=**


	26. Chapter 25

The next day, Steve and Evie received new about her parents' whereabouts. Apparently, they were having some _problems_ with things. Because of those problems, they were physically unable to return home to Tulsa. Due to these circumstances, it was explained that her and Esther would be moving in with their aunt and uncle in Tulsa- their mother's sister and her husband- who lived in the middle class section of the town.

Evie would have been sent to move there as well, and her aunt and uncle would have to sell the house, but after speaking with her relatives, it was agreed she and Steve would live in her house together with and for Layla. He would be moving out of his father's house and moving in with her and the two would take over the house. Her aunt and uncle agreed to help the young and new parents with anything they need, and they had also suggested she write a letter that would be sent to her parents, explaining the situation.

"_Mom and Dad,_

_I've already talked to Aunt Lorraine and Uncle Raymond about these arrangements. Only Esther will be moving in with them. I'll still be living in the house, and Steve will be moving in with me in the house; I remember you guys liked Steve when you guys were still around. The reason he's moving in is cause while you two were gone, or maybe a little before that, I got pregnant, and the baby is Steve's. He chose to stay with me and help me once the baby was born cause I decided I was gonna keep it. He loves me and since I love him, we decided we're going to elope since we're both legal. It just makes life easier, and it'll be better that way. Neither of us have a problem with it. I'm dropping out of high school to take care of our baby, but in a year or so, I'll probably take classes at the college. Steve has a job, and soon I can get one too, so we'll be fine._

_I was in a car accident yesterday, so our baby was born early. She was born yesterday, August 3, 1968, and her name is Layla Estelle Randle. There's a picture of her the doctor's took for me for this letter for you guys, just so you could know what your granddaughter looks like. She's five pounds and seven ounces, which is kind of small, but the doctors said she's fine. They said she might have slight health problems when she's older since she was a few months early, but nothing that can't be treated. I just thought you'd like to know, Aunt Lorraine and Uncle Raymond support us._

_Your daughter, Evelyn 'Evie' Rachel Smith"_

-/-/-

Throughout the next twenty-four hours, Cherry's memory of her entire life flooded into her head. For some reason, it was giving her a headache, but Mackenzie Robertson said it could've been from the sudden burst of memory, or stress, or from the car accident. She did an x-ray of the redhead's head, and there was nothing, so it was established that it was one of those three things.

No one was able to visit Cherry after Soda left. Until twenty-four hours had passed, the only people allowed in her room were the on staff doctors and nurses, and the same had gone for Evie- with the exception of her aunt and uncle since they took the place of her emergency contact. For the redhead, the only person who could take position as her "legal guardian" was Darry, since he took official charge of her at the beginning of the summer.

Once twenty-four hours had passed after the two girls had been admitted into the hospital, Dr. Mackenzie Robertson and the only female Neurologist- Dr. Giovanna Riviera- entered Cherry's room to test her memory and brain activity. They were going to be asking her both simple and complex questions about nearly anything and everything in her life that could prove her memory. If a few minor things were not completely there yet, that would be alright, they just wanted to know the major things that would completely affect her life.

"Are you ready to begin?" Mackenzie Robertson asked.

Cherry nodded. "Yeah, I guess," she shrugged.

The doctor smiled. "Great. Now remember, if you can't remember every detail about something, just say so. Don't lie or make some random answer up. Take as much time as you need to for an answer. And if you need anything during this examination, just say so and don't hesitate. Alright?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Great! Let's get started."

-/-/-

"Soda said they were gonna give her some sort of examination to see how her memory is… it's amazing," Lily commented, "Cherry and Evie were in that terrible wreck that's all over the local news and in the paper this morning, and they're barely hurt. I mean, apparently Evie was pregnant, but they said the baby's fine."

Ponyboy nodded. "It's kinda scary thought," he said, "Don't you think? I mean, car crashes just freak me out in general, but they're just real freaky to anyone."

"I get it, and you're right. Whether you're someone who was in the accident, or know the person who was in the accident, it's scary."

Lily knew how Ponyboy felt about car accidents. For crying out loud, him and his three brothers had lost their parents in a car wreck only a few years previous to the present time. It was a scary thing to think about in general, but for the three brothers, it was even scarier due to the fact that it's the type of incident that they had been through. She couldn't even imagine how they were reacting on the inside to the car accident.

-/-/-

"You need to calm down, Soda," Kathy said in a tone as soft as possible.

"I can't," Soda mumbled, not looking up or away from the ground, "I'm a terrible person."

"Please don't say that."

Now he looked up, his face contorted in frustration. "But it's true!"

Two-Bit gave a serious look- which was a rare thing to see. "Man, you gotta calm down," he said, "And if ya can't, don't take it out on Kathy."

Soda buried his head in his hands. "I'm an asshole… I was finally gonna tell her, and this happens. I never should've done any of this in the first place." _Why did I anyway?_ he thought.

Soda got up from his seat abruptly and stormed off to the nearest bathroom. Once he got there, he went straight to one of the sinks, turned on the cold water and splashed some on his face. He then looked up at his reflection in the mirror with a slight sigh. His reflection stared back at him, and for some reason, his face contorted in anger at the person looking back at him.

Soda abruptly turned away from the mirror, now liking who he saw in the reflective surface. He walked over to another part of the bathroom in front of one of the walls. He felt anger begin to rise and devour his body and mind in a brief second, and he began to unconsciously shake. Before he knew it, his arm had risen and his fist collided with the tile wall of the bathroom.

Soda repeated the action until his hands began to slow down and soften. Once his hands were back at his sides, he leaned his back against the wall and sat down on the tile floor. He let his head fall back and against the tile, letting his eyes shut as he sighed again. _What have I done?_ he thought to himself.

"You alright there, son?" A voice asked, making him jump.

Soda looked up and saw middle aged man that had just walked into the bathroom. "Uh, yeah," he answered, and cleared his throat a bit, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You're lying, I can tell. What's wrong?"

"Everything's just a mess, alright? I mean, my girlfriend has amnesia and was just in a car accident with my best friend's girlfriend, who was pregnant. And there's just a whole bunch of complicated stuff goin' on, and everything's just nuts right now."

The middle aged mad gave an odd look. "Wait, wait, wait," he said, "Your friend wouldn't happen to be Steve Randle, would he?"

Now Soda gave a confused look. "Yeah, he is," he answered, "You know him?"

"Yeah, I do. I was just talking to him yesterday, actually. He told me about what's going on, my daughter is your girlfriend's doctor."

"Really?"

"If your girlfriend is Sherri Valance, and his is Evelyn Smith, then yes she is."

"Oh wow, alright then. Uh yeah, that's them… um, I'm Sodapop Curtis, but most people just call me Soda."

"I'm Angelo Robertson, but everyone calls me Angel for short."

The two men sat talking for a while, the older man trying his best to calm down and comfort the younger man. The whole time, they were sitting on the floor of the men's bathroom; there were not actual chairs in the men's bathroom, like there was in the women's restroom.

After a while, the bathroom door opened and Steve walked in. "Hey Soda," he started but stopped when he saw the older man there, "Oh, hi Angel. What're you doin' here?"

Angel shrugged slightly. "Just talking with Soda," he answered.

Steve nodded and looked back to his best friend. "Ok, Cherry's examination is done and she wants to see you."

**Ooooooh what's gonna happen? I mean, I know what's gonna happen, but you don't- so hahahahaha *evi laugh***

**Layla will be making an appearance in the next chapter, just because I want her to and I love Layla… I've actually been thinking of writing a spinoff of this story about Layla in the future, but I don't know yet.**

**Hope you all had a great Easter/Resurrection Sunday this past weekend!**

**I can't think of anything else to say, so peace from all the hippies of the world =^-^=**


	27. Chapter 26

Marcia dropped her bags against the edge of her bed. She flopped down on it on her back and let out a breath. After being away from her own bed for about three months, it felt really good to be back home in her own bed. It's not that she didn't like to visit her mothers' cousin and her family, cause she did, but she liked being home and in her own bed even more.

Marcia got up from her bed, left her room, then went downstairs. She passed through the living room where her father was watching the local news. She stopped when she glanced at the screen and saw a video of an area with two cars that had collided with each other, comps and ambulances were also shown in the video at the site. She sat down next to her father on the edge of the couch and directed her attention toward the story being told.

"_Yesterday, following the car accident, those in it were rushed to the hospital. Yesterday, after reporting from the accident site right around the corner from the DX in the town center in Tulsa, we knew nothing about who had been in the accident or what had actually happened. Sources have told us that the tractor trailer involved in the accident was swerving oddly before the collision after the driver had lost control, which then caused the accident. A total of three people were injured in the collision, the tractor trailer driver as well as the two girls that were in the car it collided with. All three have been in the hospital for twenty-four hours now, and have been reported to be in stable condition. What makes this accident even scarier is that fact that the two other girls involved in the accident, were two teenage girls who attend the local high school! No details have been said about the two girls, but we know one had already been suffering from temporary amnesia at the time of the accident. Specific details are being withheld due to privacy and their own wishes of not having their identities released, the same for the driver of the tractor trailer."_

"Marcia?" her father spoke up, "Didn't you know someone who worked at the DX in town that you would take Cherry to see every so often?"

Marcia nodded at her father. "Yeah," she answered, "Cherry and me would go a few times a week… Dad, can I use the phone real quick?"

"Yeah, sure, who you calling?"

"Just a friend who Cherry was staying with while we were outta town?"

-/-/-

Dallas and Two-Bit were at the Curtis house, basically house sitting. Everyone else was at the hospital, mostly waiting for results of any kind. The two of them were voted to wait back at the house, and that they'd be called by the oldest Curtis brother every so often both to see how things were going at the house and to keep them updated on anything going on at the hospital.

When the phone started to ring, the two boys jumped a bit in surprise. They both exchanged looks before Dallas got up from his seat saying, "I got it," then walking over to the phone. Two-Bit nodded in response, then acted like his focus was on something else, when in reality, he was trying to overhear the phone conversation not even twenty feet away from where he was sitting.

"Hello?" Dallas greeted gruffly as he picked up the handset of the phone, answering the incoming call.

"_Hi, who is this? Do you know the Curtis's?" _a familiar, feminine voice asked.

"I should be askin' you that."

"_My name's Marcia, I'm Cherry's friend."_

"Oh, yeah, Marcia. Yeah, you left at the hospital a few months back."

"_Who is this?"_

"Dallas Winston, 'member me?"

"_Yeah, I remember you. Cherry and I met you at the drive in that night a few years back."_

"Yeah, that's me," Dallas answered, "Say, where the hell do you get the idea to leave your friend with amnesia for three months? What kinda friend are you for that?"

Marcia sighed sadly from the other end. _"I know, I know,"_ she said in a sad tone, _"I had to go, I had no choice."_

"No choice? What, was it some life or death trip you couldn't miss or somethin'?"

"_It was a family trip, alright? There was nothing I could personally do!"_

"_Nothing_ you could do? Alright, you listen to me and you listen good. Now I know I ain't the best guy around, that's no damn secret, but I do know bein' a friend is, believe it or not. And you know what? It sure as hell seems like you don't. For cryin' out loud, first she gets amnesia, then yesterday she was in a car accident with-"

"_Wait, what car accident?"_

"Ok, first of all: never interrupt me when I'm pissed. And it was that accident yesterday in town right by the DX that's all over the town news."

"_I have to go," _Marcia said abruptly from the other end before the line went dead.

Dallas looked at the handset before slamming it down on its hanger out of anger and annoyance.

-/-/-

Cherry sat impatiently in her hospital bed, her arms crossed over her chest. She let out a deep breath as she glanced at their small shoulder bag that had held all her personal belongings. She hadn't seen the bag or any of its contents since before the week before everything had happened at the beginning of the summer. She unfolded her arms, reached over and grabbed her bag, looking and inspecting all the contents of her life and identity over.

Cherry could see her life right before her eyes right in her hands, both before and after the beginning of the summer. Identification, pictures, notes and other random items floating around her bag. It was almost incredible, if you were in her position, to not remember anything about yourself and only have other's people's words and phrases and explanations about yourself and all you can do is take their word… and that's what upset her the most about everything.

Cherry looked up when she heard a knock coming from the doorway. "Come in," she said softly, placing her belongings back in the bag and next to her in the bed.

Soda walked into the room slowly, his hands stuffed in his jean pockets. "Hey," he said in an equally soft tone, "How you feelin'?'

She shrugged a bit. "A little sore from yesterday."

"How's your memory?"

"Restored." Her tone was harsh and her voice was powerful; she looked up at him, her eyes full of sadness and threatening to release tears. "Why'd you lie to me? Why did you tell me all those things that ended up being one big lie? And the fact that you got your friends to go along with it, it's incredible. I mean, do you have any idea what it's like to not know anything about yourself or your life and only have the words of those around you to go by? Well, it's not a good feeling. I was so scared almost all the time cause I didn't know who I really was. And the sad part about all this? Is that I actually liked my life better from the three months than everything before that. And the even worse part about this? Was that most of it wasn't even true."

Soda's heart broke at her words. He didn't know what to say anymore. What could he say? Nothing in the world could make up for what he did, at least in his own mind, and obviously in the redhead's mind.

"How can a person even apologize in a situation like this?" Soda asked her rhetorically, "There's no way, alright? And I was gonna tell you last night, but… the accident."

"What would have done after that, then?" Cherry asked.

"Honestly, I don't got a clue."

"I have one more question. For now, at least."

"Yeah, sure."

"Did you mean it?"

He gave a confused look. "Did I mean what?"

"That day that we both said those three words… did you mean it for who I actually am, or the person who you all told me that I was?"

"The only difference between them was that one had been dating me for years, and that one was Greaser and was Soc. And yeah, believe it or not, I meant it. And it was for you."

The redhead nodded. "Can I be alone for a few minutes? I just wanna think."

Soda nodded and walked out of the room, making sure he closed the door behind him as he did so. Cherry stared at the door for a brief moment before looking down at her twiddling thumbs. She ran her hands over her face and let out a slight sigh. She turned and looked outside the hospital room window that overlooked nearly the entire city of Tulsa. The sun had begun to set, and she could almost feel the warmth its rays spread out over the city. She shut her eyes for a brief moment, letting the sight copy into her mind before opening them again, letting the view of the sunset comfort her.

-/-/-

Soda let out a sigh as he walked back out to the hallway. He ran one hadn't over his face and continued through the hallway. He leaned up against the wall, and slightly slammed the back of his fist against it and began to curse at himself mentally so no one could hear him. He looked up in slight alarm when he heard his name being called.

"Soda?" Darry asked gently, gaining his brother's attention, "Everythin' alright?"

Soda shrugged a bit. "She got all her memory back," he stated, "Fully restored."

"That's good. Real good, actually… my question is, how're you doing?"

Another slight shrug. "I feel like an ass."

Darry let out a slight sigh and placed a supportive hand on his brother's shoulder. "It'll work out. Everything happens for a reason."

"You get that from Ponyboy?"

"How'd you know that?"

Soda gave a weak smile. "He told me that a few times over the summer."

**YOU SPIN RIGHT AROUND BABY RIGHT AYOU SPIN RIGHT AROUND BABY RIGHT ROUND ROUND ROUND**

**THERE'S A GIRL THAT'S BEEN ON MY MIND ALL THE TIME SUSSUSDIO, OH OH… NOW SHE DON'T EVEN KNOW MY NAME BUT THINKS SHE LIKES ME JUST THE SAME SUSSUDIO, OH OH OH**

**Sorry about that. "You spin me round' by dead or alive was playing on Music Choice 80s, then "Sussudio" by Phil Collins (my favorite singer) started to play and still is so yeah. Sussudio- it's not even a real word, it's a sound that came out of the speaker when Phil Collins was testing a microphone and he thought it sounded cool; on urban dictionary though because of the song it means when a guy can't get to a girl that he likes.**

**Anyway, dramatic chapter. I quote Mr. Omar from "Everybody hates chris": "Tragic, TRAGIC!" but yeah, this story is very dramatic. It's almost done, actually, so yeah. I'm almost done with two of my stories here on fanfiction. Net so YAY! No offense but yay, cause I write five chapters every two weeks for five stories, and it's actually really tiring. Not to mention I started doing experimentation with certain short stories for this site so yeah, I need a break. Like seriously, I do need a break, my wrist aches all the time from writing.**

**Anyway, hope you liked the chapter. Peace from all the hippies of the world =^-^=**

**HE SAYS BILL I BELIEVE THIS IS KILLING ME AS THE SMILE RAN AWAY FROM HIS FACE WELL I'M SURE I COULD BE A MOVIE STAR IF I COULD GEET OUT OF THIS PLACE**

"**piano man" by billy joel is playing on Music Choice 70s**


	28. Chapter 27

Evie gently caressed Layla's cheek with her thumb as she looked at the baby girl lovingly. The baby girl was asleep, so she didn't speak as to not wake the baby up. She hummed _People are Strange_ by the Doors, then _Are You Lonesome Tonight?_ by Elvis Presley. She wasn't humming these songs for their words and lyrics, but rather for their soft, sweet, gentle melodies.

It was hard for Evie to believe her and Steve were parents, then eloping once she was released from the hospital. She wasn't unhappy with the situation, and she was shocked by how happy she was about everything going on. Granted, she was a bit nervous about the "post-natal depression", or more known as "baby blues" that the doctors had warned her and Steve about, but that was it. She hadn't really thought that everything that had happened would make her happy, but it did, and she was grateful for that.

When Layla began to slightly stir awake, Evie began to rock her gently. She shushed the baby gently, whispering, "It's ok, Layla, it's ok. Mama's here."

A knock on the door made her look up. When she did, she saw Steve. "Hey," he whispered and walked over to her.

Evie smiled a bit. "Hi… look, Layla, it's your dad."

He chuckled gently as he sat down next to the head of the bed and looked at their baby girl. "Hi there, sweetheart. Hi, baby girl."

"Do you think we're ready to be parents?"

"Honestly, I think we're 'bout as ready as anyone else is when they have a kid. We're just kinda younger than 'em all, that's all."

"I'm kinda scared," Evie whispered.

"That don't matter," Steve said quietly, "I am too. But that's normal, alright? It's be alright."

The two looked down at Layla as she stirred again and began to make soft sounds of distress. Eveie again began to gently rock the baby girl and hum the same two songs as she was not long before. She continued to do this until she grew quiet again, and Steve watched intently.

"Yeah," Steve whispered, "I think we'll all be just fine."

-/-/-

Marcia quickly ran through the halls of the hospital to the room she'd been told Cherry was in. She was a bit nervous to see her best friend and how she was doing, but she just tried to remember her cousin's words of encouragement and comfort as she mad her way through the halls.

Marcia stopped at the end of a corridor when she saw Sodapop Curtis and a few of his friends along with two girls. She ducked behind the corner of the hallway as to not be seen by the small group out of embarrassment and guilt. She placed her hand over her chest in attempt to slow down her racing heart and let out a deep breath, letting her eyes shut for a moment. Once she reopened her eyes, she let both her arms fall to her sides, cleared her throat and start4ed down the hallway. She walked at a quick pace, but she wasn't running.

Marcia's heart stopped from nervousness when a few in the group looked at her as she walked. Her heart rate began to pick up, and it would be a miracle if it didn't land her in one of the hospital rooms she would walk past. She felt their eyes dig into her soul and rip her insides apart; she wasn't sure if their stares were really that powerful, or if it was the guilt she'd bottled up over the summer finally coming out of that bottle and overflowing under the pressure of their stares.

When Marcia finally reached them, her face was beat red. "Hi," she tried to say boldly, "Is that Cherry's room?"

The group of teenagers from the East Side all looked at her. "Yeah," Darry answered, "That's her room."

"Am I allowed to go see her?"

Before anyone could say anything, the eldest Curtis brother spoke up. "Yeah, sure you can."

Marcia mumbled a quiet 'thanks' then walked into the hospital room. She slowly and gently opened the door as she walked into the room. When the room came into her view, she saw her best friend's figure and a head of red hair above the shoulders. She fully stepped into the room, closing the door gently behind her. She slowly started toward the bed where her best friend was sitting up against her pillow, arms crossed over her chest, head and face toward the hospital room window.

"Cherry?" Marcia tried gently.

Cherry looked down a moment before continuing to look at her friend. "Hi, Marcia," she mumbled.

Marcia smiled a bit. "You remember me?"

"Yeah… I remember everything from the summer, and from before that."

"So you remember everything?"

"Unfortunately, yeah."

The brunette gave a confused look. "What do you mean?" Marcia asked, "Isn't that a good thing?"

"Depends on how you look at it," Cherry answered with a shrug, "Everyone I knew either lied to me or left me, like you and the rest all did- and now I feel like I know less that I did at the beginning of the summer. Why'd you leave anyway?"

Guilt washed over the brunette like water on a dirty car. "It was a family trip. I had to go."

The redhead nodded. "I kinda wanna be alone for a while."

Marcia nodded in understanding before turning around and leaving the room. She closed the door behind her as she walked out, but not without saying "I'm sorry" in a hushed and sad tone as she did so. Once she was out of the room and in the hallway, she began to walk down the corridor, looking down at the ground as she walked. She walked straight down the hallway in silence, not doing or saying anything.

-/-/-

The small group- which consisted of Darry, Sodapop, Ponyboy, Johnny, Kathy and Lily- all stood talking in the hallway outside of Cherry's room. The redhead's "best friend" Marcia had asked to go into the room. Five of the six were prepared to tell her that she couldn't go into the room and to take a hike, but the oldest of the group decided that she could. As soon as she was out of sight, the five gave him questioning looks.

"Why'd you let her go in?" Kathy asked in a slightly annoyed tone.

"She's got as much of right to see Cherry as we all do," Darry answered simply.

Ponyboy gave a confused look. "But she left her alone," he inquired.

Darry gave a strong look at them all. "Yeah, maybe. But we all lied to her and let her think her life was somethin' it wasn't. That don't make us too much better, now does it? Either way, like I said, she's got as much of a right to see her as the rest of us do."

The five younger people of the group all gave sad looks, especially the middle Curtis brother. The words of the oldest of the group's words were powerful- yet true words. He had made a good point, that no matter what the situation, they all had the equal right to visit the redhead.

"Good point," a few of the group all agreed timidly.

-/-/-

Cherry looked away from the window and down at her bag next to her in the bed. She went back into the bag and began to unpack the small holder for the second time that day. She unloaded all the picture and papers, along with a phone and address book. She searched until she found a slightly color faded picture that had the writing "summer of 1964, Arcadia Lake". The picture was of herself and Marcia at around fifteen years old, at one of the three lakes that were around the city of Tulsa in their bathing suits, smiling widely.

Cherry placed the photo down before searching and finding another picture that she'd labeled: "summer of 1968". The photo was of herself, Soda, Evie and Steve- and Two-Bit running into the photo. They were all smiling at laughing, mostly at the antics of their fifth friend, but the emotions were still genuine.

Cherry set the two pictures next to each other before holding them up the same way. She focused her gaze on the photo from 1964, then doing the same with the photo from the current summer of 1968. She let out a sigh as she placed both picture back down side by side to each other, and shut her eyes for a brief moment.

"My smile looks more genuine in the photo from this summer," she mumbled to herself as she inspected the photos once more.

**Before I say anything else, I need to do like what I did in January.**

**Rest In Peace, Prince Rogers Nelson, known either as "Prince" or "the Artist Formerly Known as Prince". It was such a shame how you died, and honestly, I feel the same way I did when David Bowie died and when Robin Williams died. You've always been around my life, even when I was little and didn't really know who you were by name. I remember hearing my two favorite songs of yours on my still favorite radio station, which are "When Doves Cry" and "1999". I used to love "1999" and would get so excited to hear it and always go on about "that's the same year I was born!" and such. I also always loved your music cause it seemed that you loved purple, which has always been my favorite color. What kind of scares me about your death is that exactly five days previous, I was watching "Purple Rain" from 1984 on television, also that you were the same age as my father, only being about a month and a week older than him. And since he's a musician, I guess you could say that it kinda makes me nervous. But thank you, Prince, for all your years of music and all the songs you gifted the world with. You go down in history as a legend, right there with David Bowie, as well as hundreds of others before you.**

**"dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life. electric word life. it means forever and that's a mighty long time. but I'm here to tell you there's something else: the after world. a world of never ending happiness. you can always see the sun, day, or night. so when you call up that shrink in Beverly Hills, you know the one, Dr everything'll be alright, instead of asking him how much of your time is life, ask him how much of your mind, baby. cause in this life, things are much harder than in the after world. in this life, you're on your own."**


	29. Chapter 28

One month later, both Cherry and Evie- and baby Layla- were released from the hospital. By then, it was the second week of September, and the new school year had begun. The redhead had gained both physical and mental clearance to begin the new year. The girl with hair as dark as a raven, on the other hand, had not received clearance just yet, but either way, she'd already decided that she wouldn't be returning to school for her last year of high school. She would instead be staying home to take care of Layla during the day, then eventually get a job and take classes at the community college.

While Cherry was still irritated and disappointed all those around her for leaving her or for lying to her, she still needed someplace to stay. Marcia, Evie, Kathy and Lily had all offered her a place to stay- making it a hard decision. There was a slight downside to each one, no matter who she agreed to stay with, but she didn't know anyone else and had no other choice. It all made her feel weak and dependent; she never liked feeling that way, that was for sure.

Cherry had decided- after much self-debate- that she'd stay with Lily. She was a bit unsure of the decision, considering the girl was Two-Bit's little sister- she was a bit more nervous about him rather than Lily- but it was either them or Kathy, and two of the three were almost always together anyway, so it wouldn't have made a difference either way. She felt that she couldn't really trust Marcia just yet, and she would feel bad for staying with Evie since there was a now a newborn baby to take care of- so Lily and Two-Bit were really the only option in her mind.

"You sure your mom doesn't mind me staying with the three of you?" Cherry asked a bit unsurely as they walked into the house.

"She don't mind at all," Lily answered with a smile, "In fact, I think she'd be upset if you _didn't_ agree to stay with us."

The redhead let out a light chuckle. "Well, thanks a lot for letting me stay with you guys. It really means a lot."

"It's no problem, really. Oh, and my mom told me to tell you that she enrolled you at the high school for your senior year, and I think she may have put herself down as your _'legal guardian'_ or whatever it was since you're stayin' with us for now."

"Is your mom always so hospitable?"

"Hospitable is a word that could be used for that, and another word that comes to mind is charitable. Both of those words work."

The two girls both shared a laugh before the blonde led her guest to the guest bedroom. The room had one single bed in the middle of the room against the wall, a dresser, a vanity, a bedside table, a bathroom and a closet. Everything inside the room- including the room itself- had been added on tot eh smallish house by the two Mathews' siblings mother two years previous to the present time. The two then unpacked the guest's couple of bags into the closet and the dresser.

"Cherry?" Lily started, gaining the other girls' attention, "I'm real sorry 'bout this summer."

Cherry nodded a bit. "I'm not gonna say it's ok," she began, "Cause it's really not."

"I respect that."

"But, even with that, I do forgive you."

The blonde began to smile. "Really? You do?"

The redhead nodded sincerely. "Yeah, I do. I mean, I'm not too happy 'bout everything that's happened, but that's the past, right?"

Cherry really did forgive everyone for all that had happened. Granted, she still wasn't happy with all that had transpired through the recently ended summer, but that didn't mean she could not forgive. What everyone had done was definitely wrong on their part, there was no denying that, and she knew she'd lost any trust she had in any human being and maybe for the rest of her life, but it's not like she could go back in time and change everything that happened. The only thing to do was to move past it and try to make amends.

Lily smiled before quickly hugging her house guest. "Thank you so much," she smiled.

Cherry hugged back and gave her own smile. "Glad you like that," she chuckled.

-/-/-

"You know Cherry's staying over my house, right?" Two-Bit asked.

Soda nodded slowly. "Yeah, I know," he answered flatly, "Why?"

The older of the two shrugged a bit. "Just thought you'd wanna know."

Soda had been in an unemotional state for the past month. He was still slightly animated and himself, but otherwise, he was just not himself. It was worry some to those around him, especially his two brothers. Everyone would ask him about it every so often, but he'd give them some rehearsed answer, or he'd even blow off the question. He just wasn't himself, and with him being him, it was just scary.

"Why'd ya think that?" Soda in a flat tone of voice and an expressionless face; there was no trace of any emotion in his voice or on his face.

This scared and worried Two-Bit. "Dunno," he said with a slight shrug, "Like I said, just thought you might wanna know."

Two-Bit turned around and walked away from the DX counter without another word. His hands were stuffed in his jean pockets as he walked. He glanced over his shoulder at his friend that stood behind the counter, let out a quiet sigh, then pushed the door open and walked out. When he reached the sidewalk and started to walk down the pavement, he looked inside the building through the window again at his friend, then began forward again.

Two-Bit continued down the sidewalk and through the streets until he reached the East Side. He continued until he had reached the location of his own home, running into his girlfriend on the way there, and she joined him on his way to his home. The two entered the house and sat together on the front steps that led into the house.

"Are you feelin' alright?" Kathy aske din a concerned tone, "You barely said anything to me on the way over here. Is somethin' wrong?"

Two-Bit gave a serious look, which was a rare thing to see. "You could say that," he shrugged, "But yeah, there's somethin' wrong. More like wrong with _someone._"

"I don't get what you mean, babe."

"I was at the DX just before I came back here. Told Soda how Cherry' stayin' here."

Kathy gave a concerned look. "What'd he say?"

"He said he already knew and asked why I was tellin' him. I said cause I thought he might wanna know. He asked me why I thought, and that was it."

"How's he doin' anyway? He hasn't been himself at all lately."

"Yeah, I know," Two-Bit answered with a sigh.

"Well, what're we gonna do about it?" Kathy asked.

"What can we do?"

"There has to be something… right?"

-/-/-

Late that day, Soda left the DX alone. He decided that on his way home that he'd stop by where his best friend now lived with his now-wife and baby girl; Steve would be returning to work at the DX full time the following week.

Like planned, Steve and Evie had eloped. They did this not just for their daughter's sake, but also because they really did love each other. Did they know they were a bit young? Of course they did, but it's not like they weren't legal adults at this point. And for that reason, her Aunt and Uncle were sold on their idea and one hundred percent supportive of the idea. And not long after that, the two moved into her house together, along with little baby Layla.

Soda walked up to the house and knocked on the front door three times. While he waited, he stuck his hands in his pockets. He could hear footsteps from behind the door and from inside the house. He heard the doorknob begin to click and turn, then the door swung open gently, revealing Steve.

"Hey, man," Steve greeted his best friend with a smile, "What's goin' on?"

"Hey," Soda greeted with a forced smile, "And I was on my way home, figured I'd stop to see how y'all are doin'."

"Everyone here's doin' good; Evie and Layla are both sleeping, so it's pretty quiet right now. And if I know anythin', that's weird with a whole house a' girls."

Soda let out a chuckle. "To be fair, it's not too much different with a house full of boys."

Now Steve let out a laugh. "Good point," he agreed then grew serious, "What about you? You doin' alright?"

"I don't know," Soda shrugged.

"Thinking 'bout Cherry?"

"I can't help it. I've tried talking to her, but she says she can't talk to me yet."

"Maybe Evie, Kathy and Lily can talk to her and convince her to talk to you."

"I don't know, man, I-"

"It's worth a shot, man. Maybe ever her friend, too… Marcia, right? Maybe they could all talk to her."

Soda shook his head a bit. "She won't talk to Marcia, neither. Right now, she only trusts Kathy, Lily, Evie, Darry and Ponyboy- and even that's a thin line a trust for her."

"Let's just try it," Steve said a bit hopefully, "It's worth a shot, ain't it? Not like you got anything to lose for it."

**I'd say this story is near completion. I don't really know how many more chapters there shall be, but that could be anything.**

**It's Katharine Hepburn's birthday, and TCM is having a marathon of her films. That's great cause in the acting department, she can do no wrong, and two movies I've been wanting to see are on so yay- **_**Holiday**_** and **_**The Philadelphia Story.**_

**Also, for those reading this, you may be interested in a story that I wrote that will be up within the time period of the next update in two weeks. It'll be a one-shot and it takes place in 1956. It's a one-shot featuring Mr and Mrs Curtis and the three brothers. Unless I change it, it'll be called "A Mother's Love", kind of a mother's day type story.**

**Anyone here read any good books lately? I finished reading "The Hunt" after a week and a half, and it was pretty good. If you like apocalyptic/ world war stuff, then I highly suggest it. Only two people I didn't want to die did die, but otherwise everyone else that was terrible that you kinda want to die, does, so that's that. Plus I started reading the original book of "Jurassic Park" cause I saw the films on television before I knew they were a book (at least the first two are books). So far, that book of the first film is so much better, and I love Dr. Ian Malcolm in both the book and film. He's so great and the only one with sense since he's been saying the park was gonna go wrong.**

**Also, if anyone here likes movies that are war related or action films, or films with explosions and shooting, or survival, I highly suggest a film from 1981 called "Southern Comfort". It's up on YouTube, but you have to confirm that you're eighteen to watch it there (it's rated R). if you wanna watch it, make sure it's the one from 1981 that has Keith Carradine, Fred Ward, Powers Boothe, and Lewis Smith (I added Lewis Smith cause he's my second favorite actor and this was his first film).**

**So yeah, anyway. Hope everyone's life is going good! Hope everyone is well, and hope everyone is nearly done with school (I'm done next week!) and that if you are, finish the year off with a bang. If you're graduating, I congratulate you.**

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter, peace from all the hippies of the world. =^-^=**


	30. Chapter 29

Cherry walked into the school with Kathy and Lily. It was her first Monday back at school, which was the first day of her senior year- the rest of the school had already been in attendance for the past two and a half weeks. She walked behind and with the two blonde girls, her books in her arms and clutched tightly against her chest. She spoke in a soft voice with the two girls, ignoring the curious and questioning looks that the three got from those around them that occupied the high school hallway.

"Just ignore these assholes," Kathy said in a hushed tone, "They're gonna be houndin' you in a weeks' time, trust us."

Cherry nodded in understanding. "I get that," she confirmed, 'And trust me, I can ignore anybody pretty well."

The three laughed at her comment. "You don't mind hanging 'round the two of us?" Lily asked curiously, "Or my brother and the rest of the idiots? In or outta school?"

The redhead let out a chuckle and nodded a bit sadly. "I don't mind. At the moment, I trust all of you more than the people I used to hang out with."

Kathy gave a questioning look. "Really? Even after this summer?"

Cherry nodded. "Really. Besides, if I remember correctly, you guys seem to have more fun than they did." _Genuine fun,_ she thought.

Cherry and Kathy had three out of seven classes together. The classes they had for class together were: Physics for second period, American Literature for fifth period, and Girls Physical Education for seventh period, and then they had the same lunch hour. Unfortunately, Lily was a grade below the two, so she didn't have any of the same classes with them, yet they shared the same lunch hour. The rest of the day, the only other times when the three were all together- along with their other friends- was when they were at lunch or when they were in the hallways in between classes.

The school bell rang, signaling that it was time for first period, and the three girls went their separate ways. Cherry walked to her French class along, ignoring everyone and anyone around her. She knew she was never so secluded and recluse before the summer, but that was before she'd lived the lives of both a Soc from the West Side, and a Greaser from the East Side.

Cherry's whole outlook on life had changed once she regained her memory. The fact that she'd lived her whole life as a Soc, then lost her moment and lived as a Greaser… it was kind of an eye opening experience. She now knew what life was like on both sides of Tulsa, so she felt she had a better understanding of both sides than she did before everything had happened. Granted, she didn't know everything just after three months, but she knew she had a better understanding than she did before the summer. She had witnessed first-hand what life was like on the other side of town.

Not everyone was so lucky to get that opportunity.

Cherry got a few questioning looks from those in her French class as she walked in and took a seat closer to the back of the room, both out of confusion and shock at her presence. The class all then focused their attention at the teacher as she walked in, moving to their seats in an annoyed fashion so that the class would start.

Before the teacher could speak, she gave a surprised yet pleased look at the presence of the redhead. "_Ah, __Mademoiselle__ Valance. Bon pour vous à nous rejoindre. Vous rappelez-vous ce que vous avez appris l'an dernier afin que vous puissiez aller de l'avant avec le reste de la classe?_ (Ah, Miss Valance. Good for you to be joining us. Do you remember what you were taught last year so that you may move forward with the rest of the class?)"

French had always been a strong point for Cherry in school. "_Oui, madame Dupree," Cherry answered, "Je me souviens assez pour passer avec le reste de la classe. _(Yes, Mrs. Dupree. I remember enough to move on with the rest of the class.)"

The teacher smiled then looked toward the rest of the class. "_Avec cela, nous allons commencer. S'il vous plaît passer à la page vingt-cinq dans vos manuels._ (With that, let's begin. Please turn to page twenty-five in your textbooks.)"

-/-/-

Soda continued to work on a car in the garage in silence. He knew his best friend was also in the garage at the DX, but he paid no mind. He just focused all his attention on the undercarriage of the car, zoning out all other surrounding noises and distractions. He had decided that he'd focus on all his work at the DX so he wouldn't think about everything that had happened over the summer with Cherry.

Guilt didn't fill Soda's body, mind and soul as much as it did during the summer. Part of that was probably due to the fact that his dirty little secret that had now been revealed from the shadows. The other part he believed to be was that he no longer was lying to or causing anyone else to lie. The guilt was still there every once in a while, but not as much as it used to be there.

Steve had grown worried about his best friend. Ever since his best friend had stopped by the week previous, he'd become more and more worried. He felt a bit bad about not being able to fully be there for his best friend for the present time, but he had to help his now wife take care of their baby girl. He had no problem with that part, but he would've liked to have been able to also be more of a help to his out of sorts best friend.

"You been able to talk to Cherry yet?" Steve asked cautiously as they worked.

Soda jumped a bit at his best friend's question. "Uh," he hesitated slightly, "No, I haven't yet. I haven't really seen her 'round lately."

"What 'bout Ponyboy?"

"Probably at school, since she and Ponyboy are both goin' there."

"Think she'll talk to any of 'em?"

Soda sighed a bit. "I don't got a clue." He turned back to the car he was working on and away from his best friend somberly.

-/-/-

That lunch period, Cherry, Kathy and Lily all sat together in the school cafeteria. Along with them, a few other friends of their little "gang" joined them. The others to join them at their table was Two-Bit, Ponyboy and Johnny, who all had the same lunch period at the school. The redhead still felt a bit odd with those of the group, but she'd felt that she could actually trust them at this stage of the game. She didn't know why she felt that way, she just did for some odd reason that she didn't understand.

"Hello to all those who take part in this one hour times frames all mushed together known as high school," Two-Bit greeted as he sat down next to his girlfriend.

The other four gave confused and questioning looks at their friend. "He just got out of English and Literature class," Ponyboy informed the four before any of them could ask, and they all nodded in understanding.

Two-Bit grinned playfully. "Just tryin' to apply what I learned."

"For once in your life," Lily commented in a teasing tone, causing the rest to laugh.

Two-Bit gave his sister a non-serious teasing look. "I'm not always the smartest, but I ain't stupid, neither."

"Am not," Ponyboy corrected silently, "No _I ain't."_

Cherry couldn't help but smile at the playful teasing that was going on back and forth between the five friends. She remember that her friends from the West Side had never been able to do that without someone getting offended in some kind of way. It was a nice thing to see, friends being able to tease each other in a playful, lighthearted way, knowing good and well that none of it was real, just jokes. That they were close enough with each other that they could do that; almost like how brothers and sisters would be with each other.

She envied this closeness that they all had as friends.

Cherry was brought from her thoughts when she heard her name being called by someone at the table. "So, Cherry," Kathy began, "I forgot to ask how your first period went? You had French, didn't ya?"

Cherry nodded. "Yeah," she confirmed, "And it was ok, I guess."

"Heard you told someone off in class," Lily commented with a slight smirk.

Cherry chuckled lightly. "Uh, yeah, I did. Someone else I used to know from the West Side."

All five pairs of eyes widened at her words, and their memories of her being from the West Side fleeing their minds; as far as they were concerned, at the present time, she might as well have been from the East Side. "You did?" Johnny asked in a hushed tone of voice out of shock.

Cherry nodded again. "Yeah, I did. Then I said a few words in French, which probably started the saying: pardon my French. It was funny cause it was obvious they had no idea what I said."

"What'd you tell 'em?" Tow-Bit asked, "To shove off?"

"Somethin' like that, but not so nice."

"Why'd you tell 'em off?" Ponyboy asked curiously.

Cherry shrugged slightly. "I don't even remember, but it was bad, I know that." _She was talking badly about you all and asking why I was hanging out with you guys, _she thought.

**I finished school officially, I'm so happy. I am no longer a junior in high school, I'm now a senior oh my gahd. To celebrate that, I watched movies all day on Monday; I watched: **_**Mad Dog Time, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension, Oscar**_** and **_**Young Frankenstein.**_** It was great.**

**Just so you know, the French in this story is translated from Google Translate. I don't know how accurate it is or not, since I used that sight. I don't speak French, and actually, I don't speak any other language other the English. I know a small amount of Spanish, and a few words in other languages. Otherwise, I only speak English- but I plan on learning Clingon soon (yes, it's from Star Trek, don't judge me).**

**I don't know how updating will go for this story or any other stories for the rest of the summer, since I'm trying to find a summer job. I know that, if something happens, I will at least be updating once a month instead of twice a month (so once every four weeks rather than once every two weeks). This is not a definite yet, so as far as I know, it'll still be once every two weeks. **

**Oh, I just wanna say that I saw the new **_**Captain America: Civil War**_** film. It was so amazerful, oh my gahd. Me and my dad went without my mom cause she hates that kinda of stuff. Me and my dad loved it and when my mom asked us how it was we'd say, "it was great, but you would've hated it." Me and my dad pretty much like all the same film type stuff (except for alien sci fi stuff, with the exception of a few) and my mom doesn't so yeah.**

**Anyway, hope you guys liked the chapter! And since I won't be updating till after the holiday- Happy Memorial Day! Peace from all the hippies of the world =^-^=**


	31. Chapter 30

Evie fell back onto the bed with a tired sigh. She placed a hand over her forehead and let out a heavy breath. She fought her heavy eyelids from falling asleep while home with baby Layla, at least with not one else in the house. She never thought she'd be so tired at only eighteen years old, but she'd be a liar to say she didn't at least expect to be tired- considering she had been in a major car accident, had a baby, and was now living as a house wife.

Evie had grown skeptical and pessimistic about how she was doing things. She felt that she took longer than necessary for simple tasks, and that she wasn't even doing those tasks correctly. And then she always felt that she wasn't doing a good job of taking care of her baby girl. She wasn't sure whether or not she was really doing a terrible job, or if it was just her nerves about the future, or if she was overwhelmed with how quickly she'd been thrown into it all.

Evie sat up when she heard a knock on the door from the knocker. She got up from the bed with a light grunt and quickly headed toward the staircase. She ran down the steps and to the front door. "Who is it?" she called to the other side of the door.

"_It's Cherry,_" a familiar voice called from the outside of the door.

Evie's eyes widened for a brief moment before she scrambled to open the door. When she did, Cherry stood on the small patio. "Cherry, hi. What, uh… what're you doin' here?"

The redhead seemed nervous. "I, uh… I figured I'd stop by to, you know, see how you're doing. I mean, I haven't seen you in a while."

"Yeah, it has been a while. Wanna come in?"

Cherry nodded and entered the house. She closed the door behind her gently as she walked in. As she walked in, she seemed nervous and uneasy. It was understandable on her end, considering all that had happened and all she'd gone through; it made the girl whose hair was as dark as a raven feel terrible. There was a slightly awkward tension between the two former roommates, which they both hated.

"So, how ya been?" Evie asked.

Cherry shrugged lightly. "I've been ok, I guess," she answered, "What about you?"

"Pretty good. Tired." She let out a light chuckle. "But that's expected when you have a one month old daughter, I guess."

"Yeah, how's Layla? I know she was born kinda early, and I haven't gotten to talk to you since the accident."

"Layla's real good, actually. The doctor's didn't particularly like that she was born a couple months early, but considering the circumstances, it wasn't too bad. They said when she gets a bit older she might have a few health problems, but nothin' too major or serious that can't be treated. So overall, she's fine."

Cherry smiled genuinely. "That's great, Evie."

Evie gave a small smile back and nodded. "You wanna meet her? I was just 'bout to go and check on her."

"Uh… sure, I guess so."

Evie started up toward the staircase, and Cherry followed close behind her. A strange sense of nostalgia washed over the two girls as they walked, remembering the multiple times and reasons they'd climbed up and down that same staircase. It was a good sense of nostalgia, and it made the two girls feel good.

The two girls reached the top of the staircase then turned to the rooms. They continued down the hall until they reached the room where Esther used to sleep. The door was closed, but they could still hear the muffled sound of the baby girl fussing. They opened the door slowly and gently, unveiling the sounds of the gentle, soft whimpering cries that were coming from the baby girl.

Evie rushed over to the baby girl, gently took her into her arms, and then began to hum _People Are Strange_ by the doors, just like she had done when the baby girl was born. She continued this until the baby quieted down. The new mother then slowly turned and faced her friend and former roommate. "You wanna hold her?" she asked with a small smile.

"Oh, uh," Cherry hesitated, "I- I don't know."

"Don't worry, it's easy. You just gotta make sure you support her neck where your elbow bends. Here, I'll help you."

Before Cherry knew it, Evie had walked over ot her and began to place the baby girl in her arms. She held her arms out the way she'd seen others hold a baby, then let her arms adjust when the baby was physically in her arms. Her friend helped her adjust her arms to properly hold the newborn baby girl. After slight and multiple minor adjustments, her friend stepped back and smiled at the scene in front of her.

"See?" Evie smiled, "Nothin' to it."

"I guess so," Cherry agreed, "You know, you're really know what you're doing."

She scoffed a bit. "Not really. I feel like I don't got a clue to any a' this."

"Really? Cause like I said, it sure seems like you do know what you're doing."

Evie smiled at her friend's words. With all her personal thoughts, opinions, criticisms and doubts, it felt good to have someone compliment her. She'd thought that the redhead would be cruel to her for all that had happened, so she was especially shocked that she'd been the one to give the compliment. In her mind, that made the compliment from her old roommate even more special, genuine and most of all for her: reassuring.

"I'm sorry," Evie said suddenly in a sad tone of voice.

Cherry gave her a questioning look as she placed Layla back in her crib. "Sorry? For what?" she asked in a confused tone.

"Lying to you this summer. I shouldn't have done it an' I-"

"Evie, stop. Don't beat yourself up. I forgive you."

Evie began to smile. "Really?"

"Yes, really. And thank you for letting me live here over the summer.

"No problem… but I do have to ask?"

"Yeah?" Cherry said.

"Are we still friends?" Evie asked hopefully.

Cherry nodded and smiled. "Yes."

The two girls smiled at each other before they shared a friendly hug. Seeing that the baby girl had fallen asleep, the baby monitor was turned on, and the two girls left the room, closing the door behind them. They walked down the hall and to the staircase, then proceeded down until they reached the first floor of the house. The two girls then sat down in the living room on the couch and talked together. As they did so, it was like they'd been best friends their entire lives, rather than new friends from everything that'd happened over the past summer.

-/-/-

Soda and Steve left the DX together. Steve had invited his best friend over to his shared house to try and his mind off of a few things. He figured that if there was anything he could do to possibly at least temporarily distract his best friend, even by just hanging out for just a little while, he would.

Soda still had been acting strange. He'd spend most of his time at the DX, working on cars and dealing with the girls that would come in just to see him. The only plus side about him spending so much time at the DX was that he'd get paid overtime for all the extra time he'd been working. Otherwise, his entire personal demeanor had changed. It continued to make those around him nervous and worried. They had all tried to get him back to normal, but so far, nothing had worked just yet.

They knew the only thing that would work would be him talking to the redhead- but that likelihood of that happening was that same as a snowstorm in hell.

"Maybe you could finally hold Layla," Steve suggested with a smile as they walked up to the door.

Soda gave a weak smile. "Yeah, maybe," he said.

The two opened the front door and walked into the house. Before either of them could say anything else, both their eyes locked on the sight of the two girls that sat on the couch in the front living room. The two girls stood up in slight shock and alarm as the two boys walked in.

Soda looked at the redhead nervously. "Cherry," Soda announced with a heavy breath.

"Soda," Cherry said nervously as she looked at him.

**Oh, don't you just love cliffhangers? I know I don't. So however you're feeling with this cliffhanger, it's how I felt when I was reading "North and South" by John Jakes and Charles (my favorite character) was about to have a duel with some butt and my mom made me get out of the car and leave my book in the car as we went into Best Buy, right as ten paces away from each other was being counted. **

**I finished reading ****_The Lost World_**** by Michael Crichton. It was great. My favorite character- Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum in the first two ****_Jurassic Park_**** films) was high on morphine for the majority of the second half, or the last third of the book. Ironically, it was pretty much that way in the first book as well. It was funny, especially cause he gets really cynical and philosophical when he's high, it's amazing. Now I'm reading ****_Buckaroo Banzai_**** by Earl Mac Rauch; the film from 1984 is my second favorite film in my top three (****_Rhinestone _****from 1984 being my first, then ****_This Is Spinal Tap_**** from 1984 being my third). Supposedly the book came first, but it's suggested to watch the film first.**

**By the way- please wish me luck! Right before I finished typing this, I got a call from Chick-Fil-A. I submitted an application for work there yesterday, and I got a call to schedule an interview, which is tomorrow, so wish me luck (I'm sixteen and need a job so yeah).**

**So yeah, I think that's it. Alright, hope you enjoyed the chapter, peace from all the hippies of the world. =^-^=**


	32. PLEASE READ THIS AUTHORS NOTE

_**NOT A REAL UPDATE, BUT PLEASE READ THIS AUTHOR'S NOTE**_

This week I would've updated the next chapter of _**Loyalty**_, along with my other five stories. I cannot fulfill this update for this week, like I usually would. Due to certain events going on in my life, that have been since right after I finished updating two weeks ago, so I've been kinda all over the place. This has caused a huge case of writers block for me, and I wasn't able to finish all the newest chapters for each of my stories. With this, I apologize for not being able to upload this week like my usual updating schedule/pattern. I will continue this back up in another two weeks, as if I had updated this week. That way, I will have an entire month this time to write the newest chapters in each of my stories, and a total of two chapters will already be done for each story- if it all goes according to plan- and then even if I get massive writers block again, I'll already have a chapter done so that I can update.

Again, I apologize for the next two weeks of waiting for the next chapter. After these two weeks, when I update, I will continue updating every other week. Thank you, and peace from all the hippies of the world.

As a thank you for your patience, here's at least a preview of what I do have of the next chapter:

_**Chapter 31**_

"You think I enjoyed doin' all I did?" Soda asked in an irritated tone, "Cause I sure as hell didn't."

"Then why did you do it?" Cherry snapped, "Cause honestly, it was a real shitty thing to do."

"I know, alright? I know! When I first did it, I was more than hesitant, but yeah, I was an asshole and went along with it. But the entire time, I felt guilty 'bout it the whole time. Cause a' that, I couldn't figure out how and when I was gonna tell you."

"Guilty? You felt _guilty?_ How do you think I felt this past summer- relying on what everyone told me, and of the little bits and pieces I'd remember on my own? Let me tell you, Sodapop Curtis, it doesn't feel good. To not know who you are or anything 'bout your life, all cause of one thing, is one of the scariest things to feel in your entire life. And now, I wonder how much of what you ever said to me was the _real_ me, or the me I believed was the real me?"


	33. Chapter 31

Soda and Cherry continued to stare at each other out of shock and embarrassment. There was an obvious tension that now filled the air, but those in the room tried to ignore it. The young married couple in the room shared worried looks, trying to figure out something to say to try and help their two friends begin to talk; this may have been the only chance that the two would at least be forced to talk, and they had to grab that chance like it was the only thing that would keep them alive.

"Steve?" Evie said, gaining his attention, "Could you come upstairs with me for a sec?"

Steve nodded, taking note of her tone. "Yeah, sure," he obliged, then followed his wife up the stairs to the second floor, leaving their two friends alone in the living room.

Cherry and Soda both shuffled their feet nervously and uncomfortably. The tension grew where their awkward silence was filling gaps. What was there to say? Neither could figure that out- but they were a situation where they were now being forced to talk to each other. They'd have to say _something_ to each other at this moment in time, and they had absolutely no choice at this point.

"How ya doin'?" Soda asked a bit awkwardly.

"I'm ok," Cherry answered while nodding a bit, "What about you?"

"I'm alright, I guess. I, uh… I heard you're stayin' with Two-Bit and Lily, now."

"Uh, yeah. Lily told me their mom would'a been real disappointed if I didn't." She let out a light chuckle.

He chuckled weakly. "Yeah, Mrs. Mathews really likes to help whenever she can. She's a real good person. She's always been like another mom to all of us."

"She's really motherly."

"Yeah, she's great."

Awkward silence filled the space again. The two kind of just stood there silently, their eyes scanning over the area of the room, shifting their bodies uncomfortably. Neither knew what to say, and were lucky they'd already said as much as they had. They both knew they had to talk about all that happened over the summer, but neither could figure out how to start off their conversation with such an out of the ordinary topic.

"Alright," Soda began, "I wanna apologize to you 'bout this summer. I shouldn't have done it, or gotten everyone else to along with it."

"It's ok," Cherry announced.

He gave a confused look. "It is?"

"Yeah. In fact, I should thank you for doin' what you did. It made me realize a lot 'bout myself, actually. But, there was something I didn't appreciate this summer."

_I knew it,_ he thought. "Can I ask what?"

"The fact that you guys all had the guts to even go through with it. I mean, if it were me doin' that, I would've freaked out. I would never have been able to go through with makin' someone believe their life is somethin' it's not."

"Who said I didn't feel guilty at all?"

"Really? Cause it sure as hell didn't seem that was to me, considering I believed you! You're a pretty good liar, so that scares me, and it makes me wonder how much of what you've said about how you feel about me is true, to be honest."

Soda felt that familiar sense of guilt begin to rise and fill his body. For some reason, he could feel his blood begin to boil as well, but he wasn't quite sure why. He tried to take control over his growing anger, but he couldn't. He'd only been both angry and guilty a few other times in his life, and he didn't like how it made him feel. He'd been pretty much a loose cannon, saying things that he didn't think about before saying. He tried to control that part about it when he did get that way, but it never really worked. His mind wasn't fully functioning at that time, and he had no sense of judgement of what he was saying.

"You think I enjoyed doin' all I did?" Soda asked in an irritated tone, "Cause I sure as hell didn't."

"Then why did you do it?" Cherry snapped, "Cause honestly, it was a real shitty thing to do."

"I know, alright? I know! When I first did it, I was more than hesitant, but yeah, I was an asshole and went along with it. But the entire time, I felt guilty 'bout it the whole time. Cause a' that, I couldn't figure out how and when I was gonna tell you."

"Guilty? You felt guilty? How do you think I felt this past summer- relying on what everyone told me, and of the little bits and pieces I'd remember on my own? Let me tell you, Sodapop Curtis, it doesn't feel good. To not know who you are or anything 'bout your life, all cause of one thing, is one of the scariest things to feel in your entire life. And now, I wonder how much of what you ever said to me was the real me, or the me I believed was the real me?"

"If it's any consolation, the only difference was that one a; you was a Soc, and the other was a Greaser. I don't know if you noticed, but I didn't tell you nothin' that wasn't true about your personality."

"That's not the point. You still lied to me."

Soda looked down for a moment. "What would you say," he began, "If I told you that I wasn't lyin' about when I told you I loved you."

Cherry stood silently for a moment. "I don't know if I'd believe you," she admitted quietly, "Tell Evie I'll see her tomorrow." She then walked to the front door and out of the house.

-/-/-

Cherry did her best not to slam the door shut behind her as she walked out. She believed that she had succeeded as she walked away from the house and in the direction of where she was currently staying. When she got to the house, she rushed inside, and up to the room she was sleeping in. She shut the door quickly behind her, then threw herself across the surface of the bedsheets. She let her tears fall as she let the hurt flow and radiate from her body.

_I can't trust him,_ she thought sadly, _Not yet._

-/-/-

Soda stood motionless for who knew how long. His eyes had begun to fill with tears, which he had refused to let fall for the current moment. His face, which had already turned bright red, began to change back to his natural skin color as he stood, trying to calm down. His heart had been pounding the whole time, but he wasn't exactly quite sure which emotion had caused it to speed up.

"You alright?" Evie asked gently, gaining his attention.

When Soda turned, he saw his best friend standing with his wife on the staircase. "Uh, yeah," he answered with a weak and unconvincing forced smile, "I'm gonna head home."

Steve's shoulders slumped in worry. "You'll be alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'll be alright. I'll see you at the DX tomorrow."

"Yeah… see you tomorrow, Soda."

As Soda opened the front door to leave the house, he stepped and turned around a bit. "Oh yeah, Evie," he began, "Cherry said she'll see ya tomorrow." When she nodded and mumbled "ok" in response to his information, he then turned back around, walked out the door, and shut it gently behind him.

As Soda walked down the dark and quiet streets of the East Side, he felt his body finally begin to calm down. Whatever anger he had just felt five to ten minutes earlier had faded away and replaced by sadness, guilt, and heartbreak. He continued to walk the streets in silence, hands stuffed in his pockets and his head down. He pondered all that had been said between himself and the redhead.

"They all wanted us to talk," he mumbled to himself as he walked, "Well there. They got a whole damn argument."

**First, I want to apologize for skipping the two week update this month, but updates should continue every two weeks like usual at this point. Let me explain in simple statements what has been going on in my life lately, both good and bad, that will hopefully give insight to certain things as reason for my absence (things may be out of order, but you'll get the gist of it):**

**Writers block. Apartment problems. Housing problems. Family issues. Thankful about job layoffs. Finding Dory. Independence Day (the first film). Independence Day: Resurgence. The Fourth of July. VBS church planning. Rewriting of my own story. Family visits. Birthdays. Wedding anniversaries. Barbecues. College searching. Job hunting. Wayward Pines. Short stories. Reading. Go Set a Watchman. The Godfather (book, not film). Gift searching. Personal issues. Skit practicing. Goodbye lunches. Apartment hunting. Future planning. Family visiting. **

**I think that's all, in simple statements without getting into details.**

**Anyway, like I said, updates should be every other week as usual, unless something happens.**

**Ok, that's it. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, happy late Fourth of July, and peace from all the hippies of the world.**


	34. Chapter 32

The next morning, Cherry wished that she could just stay in bed all day, rather than get up and go to school. She was still upset about her confrontation with Soda, and wished she could just forget about the whole thing. Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy, but she truly wished that it was.

Cherry hadn't said a word to either Two-Bit or Lily about her conversation- or more like argument- with Soda, even though she was currently living with them. She tried to act like she was fine and that nothing had even happened, but she wasn't quite sure if she was convincing enough to the two siblings she was currently living with. She at least hoped that she was putting on a good show for the two, since at the moment, she really was not in the mood to discuss the events of the night previous to the present time with anyone.

"You seem real quiet, Cherry," Lily commented as they walked through the halls, "Everythin' alright?"

"Oh, yeah," Cherry lied, "Yeah, I'm fine."

Lily nodded slowly. "Did you know that one of the most common lies in the entire world is the words, _I'm fine_? Interesting, isn't it?"

"Gee, you sure are subtle."

"I try. Now what's goin' on?"

Cherry looked down for a moment. "I don't really wanna talk about it, Lily."

"I heard that those who don't talk 'bout their problems and just bottle it all up go mentally insane after a little while, then they just have a breakdown and go nuts."

"You really won't let this go, will you?" Cherry asked.

Lily shook her head. "No, I will not," she answered honestly, "Now, what's goin' on?"

The school bell rang, signaling all the present students to evacuate the hallways and to get to their classes. Cherry looked over at her friend then said, "I'll tell you everything at lunch. I promise."

"Deal," Lily agreed hesitantly, "But you have to tell me everything."

-/-/-

Evie watched as Layla slept on a blanket on the couch cushion. The baby girl's tiny torso and body rose slowly and gently in accordance with her breathing pattern. The sound of her breathing was soft and gentle, sounding like a soft sigh. The girl with hair like a raven gently ran her hand over the baby girl's hair, which was the same exact shade of jet black. Her hair, though dark, matched perfectly with the color of her light eyes, which was a mixed shade of blue and green.

"Hi, Layla," Evie said in a near whisper, "I know you're sleepin', but I just want you to know somethin'. I know you'll never 'member this, but I'm still gonna say it… I know I'm a lot younger than most mom's. That's not your fault, it's mine- but I still love you. I don't regret deciding to keep you, and I'm happy your daddy decided to stay with us. Now I can't promise that life'll always be perfect, but me and your daddy are gonna do our very best to make sure that you're always happy. But even when things get hard, and things don't look so good, just remember that me and Daddy will always love you- no matter what. Ok?"

Layla, who was still asleep, gave a small smile in her sleep. Evie let out an amazed chuckle, then leaned down to kiss the baby girl's forehead. "You'll always be happy," she whispered again.

-/-/-

"So, she's gonna tell you what's up at lunch?" Ponyboy asked his girlfriend curiously.

"Yeah," Lily answered as she nodded, "She's been actin' real strange since last night."

"So has Sodapop, actually. Think it's related."

"After what's happened? I don't doubt it for a second."

Ponyboy nodded in agreement. "Maybe I could try talkin' to Soda about what happened," he suggested.

Ponyboy was the most worried about his one older brother, with Darry and Steve right behind him, their little group of friend's right behind them. The youngest Curtis brother had noticed the dramatic change in his brother first, when it had first happened. Of course, he'd grown worried at first abou tit, but that worry had quickly grown to a major concern for his older brother. He tried to ignore it at times, but no matter how hard he would try, he couldn't shake the concern that he felt for his one elder brother- but this didn't exactly shock him.

The school bell rang again, and the two came to attention. "You'll be okay?" Lily asked her boyfriend.

Ponyboy nodded in confirmation. "Yeah," he said, "I'll be fine. I'll see you later."

The two then shared a quick but intimate kiss before turning away from each other to walk to their next class for the day.

-/-/-

Just like promised, Lily and Cherry met up at lunch. The two girls didn't sit with their usual group of friends so that they could talk in private. They had informed only Ponyboy about what they were talking about, and that was only because he and Lily had been talking about it earlier in the hall. He would cover for them for their absence from the table, saying that they were in a section of the library, the older of the two tutoring the younger in French, since both chose that as their foreign language for the school year.

The cover was half true, but only for the fact that the two girls were meeting in the library. They would meet in the library to talk for the fact that nearly no one went to the school library during the lunch hour, maybe with the exception of- at most- somewhere between five to ten people. But even with this factor in mind, it was a large library, so the chances of the two girls being interrupted were very slim… especially since they chose to talk at a table in a small cavity of the bookshelves in the library that were labeled with a sign that said: _Mathematics._

"So what's goin' on?" Lily asked curiously, "What's got you all upset or somethin'?"

Cherry let out a heavy sigh. "I talked with Soda yesterday," she answered quietly.

Lily's eyes widened for a brief moment. "Oh, wow… well, what happened?"

"We kinda argued a little. I felt bad 'bout it though, cause we were at Steve and Evie's house."

"Do ya think that they set it up for you two to both be at the house at the same time?"

Cherry shook her head. "I don't think so cause Evie didn't know I was coming," she claimed.

Lily nodded in understanding. "I get it," she confirmed, "Are you gonna try to talk to him again at all?"

"I honestly don't know. I mean, we only talked for a few minutes and we yelled at each other. Accused each other."

"So you're saying that you want to, but you're scared that you'll get into another argument?"

"Exactly."

"Well then, why don't you two agree to meet together- somewhere public, but not too public. That way, you two might not yell, so you won't get embarrassed out in public. And maybe two of the rest of us could go with you two, so then if things start to get too heated or outta hand, there's gonna be more than one mediator to get you two under control."

Cherry pondere over the suggestion of her blonde friend. She had to admit that it was a pretty good idea, once you took all the situation problems into consideration. It was definitely a safer option; it gave the two specific reasons for the two not to get into another "he said/ she said" type of argument. Then, even if something did start to happen, two would be right there to break it up before anything major was about to occur. It was a wise idea, one that would be idiotic to say no to.

"I'm ok with it," Cherry agreed, "Who do you think the two might be?"

Lily shrugged lightly. "Not sure yet," she answered, "We'd have to see if Soda would agree to it, first. If he does, maybe Kathy and Dallas? Mostly cause the two of 'em are the strongest, and dealing with the least amount of crap right now, you know?"

"Good point. Plus, they're both brutally honest so that might be a good thing in this case."

Lily nodded. "Then it's settled. I'll just talk to Ponyboy and see if he can talk to Soda and try to get Soda to agree to it, and there we go."

As the two girls got up from their seats at the table and left the library to go and meet up with everyone in the cafeteria of the school, Cherry couldn't help but think incredulously: _What did I just get myself into?_

**I am pretty sure this story should be ending very soon. I don't know how many chapters are left just yet, but when I do know, I will let you know. I kinda wanna finish all my stories on this site, but I know I can't cause my one Outsiders story won't be done for a while, and my Expendables story is still new and I know it won't end totally soon. I seriously just wanna finish it all right now.**

**My dad's birthday is this week, as well as my parents wedding anniversary. I bought my dad **_**Spaceball's**_** on dvd for his birthday. Then for their anniversary, I wanted to get them both **_**Serial Mom**_**, but couldn't find it, so I bought my parents both their own two gifts. I bought my dad his favorite Elton John album:**_** Madman Across the Water**_**, and his favorite Frank Zappa album: **_**One Size Fits All.**_** I'm so proud of myself for finding those three, cause they were so hard to find, oh my gahd. Then for my mom I bought her season three of the new **_**Hawaii Five-O**_**, and a Whitney Houston cd, one of those **_**the best of**_** type things. Season three of the new **_**Hawaii Five-O**_** has some of the best guest stars, like the ones I always miss on television as reruns at like three in the morning with C. Thomas Howell, Peter Weller, and Dog the Bounty Hunter.**

**Anyway, I don't know what else to say or talk about, so that's it, I guess. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and peace from all the hippies of the world. =^-^=**


	35. Chapter 33

"I don't know, Pone'," Soda said hesitantly, "It seems pretty risky, when ya think about all that happened."

Ponyboy had agreed with Lily's idea, also saying that it was a good idea. Since she had persuaded Cherry, it was agreed that' he'd try to persuade Soda to get on board with the idea. Since he was so close with his older brother, he would be the best option to try and talk to him. He knew how to get his older brother to talk about certain things that their other friends both wouldn't and couldn't be able to. For these reasons, he was the best option for the job.

"But you two won't be alone," Ponyboy reminded, "So if things start to get too heated up, someone'll be there with you guys."

"Still," Soda hesitantly tried to reason, "It can still go sour."

"Why don't you just give it a shot? It could work out. Cherry already agreed to it."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. She thinks it's a good idea."

"Can I think 'bout it and tell ya a bit later on?"

"Sure," Ponyboy agreed, "That'll work."

-/-/-

"So if he agrees to the idea," Evie began, "You two're gonna try to talk to each other again?"

Cherry had done as she said she would and went to the Randle household. It had been confirmed that Soda was not in the house with his best friend, but rather that the two were still at work for the day at the DX and would be till the sun had begun to set. When that had been confirmed, the redhead's nerves were eased and she then was not one bit hesitant to visit her friend at her house again.

"That's right," Cherry answered unenthusiastically.

"You don't seem too excited about it," Evie commented, "Why's that?"

"Cause I'm not."

"Not looking forward to it, huh?"

Cherry scoffed a bit. "If you were in my shoes, would you be?"

Evie could understand where her friend was coming from. She knew that all that had happened during the summer wasn't the best thing for the two. While it wasn't a good thing or a good way to start a relationship- one that was literally based on lies, pretty much- they still were technically in a relationship. Sure, it wasn't under the best circumstances, but even with all that had happened, there was obviously still something there romantically between the two. At this point, things may have not been the best, but they still had to work everything out.

Even though Cherry had agreed to the meeting, that didn't mean that she was looking forward to it at all. If she was being honest with herself, she wasn't looking forward to it. She felt awkward around him at this point, and was hesitant to his every word and movement. She felt she couldn't trust him anymore. She felt that she would never be able to trust him again. To be fair, she was still unsure at times how much she could trust the rest of them- but more so Soda, since it was all his idea.

Her trust had been betrayed and it had been broken into a hundred million little pieces.

"I'm just curious how much I can really trust him," Cherry admitted, "Is that weird?"

Evie shook her head. "No, I don't think it's weird," she answered, "But realize, how much can ya trust the rest a' us? Cause we all went along with it. Even Darry."

"Yeah, but you guys didn't toy with my emotions."

"But didn't we? I mean, not to turn you against us, we did all kinda tell you stuff that could've toyed with your emotions."

"Well, yeah. Maybe, I guess. But not with my heart. I mean, Soda told me that he loved me, and I said that I loved him."

"Well, do you?"

Cherry shrugged a bit. "I did," she admitted with a sigh, "But now… now, I don't know how I feel. About anything."

Evie felt sympathetic toward her friend. She knew that Soda really meant what he was saying to the redhead when he told her that he loved her. She knew that her friend really did have feelings for him, based off of past history from the past couple of years. She knew also that, during the summer, she had definitely been romanced by him the entire summer. She had been romanced by him and charmed by him the whole time, and she'd fallen in love with him. Love was a scary thing in general, but for them and their situation, it was even scarier and more confusing.

Cherry chuckled sadly. "I'm such a sucker, aren't I, Evie?" she asked in a low and sad voice.

Evie's heart broke at her friend's questions. As she saw tears started to fall gently down the redhead's cheeks, she quickly went and hugged her in attempt at comfort. "No," she said as her friend hugged her back, "You're not a sucker. Look, you've had a hard couple a' months, so it's normal to be so upset and confused about this all."

"I've never been so confused in my whole life… and I've had amnesia so I think I have a pretty good idea how it feels to be confused."

The two laughed at her attempt at humor. "That was a real sick joke," Evie chuckle, "You do know that, right?"

Cherry nodded. "Yeah," she answered honestly, "But it got us to laugh, didn't it?" She let out a light chuckle, and Evie nodded in agreement.

-/-/-

"I think you should do it," Steve said in response to the question.

While Soda was at work at the DX that day, he told his best friend about his younger brother's proposition. He figured that Cherry had probably talked to Evie about the proposition, when taking into consideration how close the two had gotten over the summer- which made sense, since the two lived together the entire summer. He figured he'd ask his best friend for his opinion about the whole matter, considering- next to his two brothers- Steve's opinion was an opinion that he had a great deal of trust in.

Soda gave a questioning look. "You really think so?" he asked.

"yeah, I do," Steve answered, "I mean, you two really need to talk 'bout everythin' that happened."

"We did… kinda…"

Steve rolled his eyes. "_That_ was _not_ talkin', what you two did. Trust me, y'all nearly made Layla start to cry."

Soda gave an embarrassed look. "Sorry 'bout that…"

"Don't worry 'bout it, we calmed her down. But look, Soda: you're my best friend, and have been since we were kids. At this point, I can tell what does and doesn't maybe you happy, so believe me when I tell you this: Cherry made you happy. Ever since that first time that Marcia brought here over here to cheer her up. And let me tell you somethin' else she always seemed to get happier when they'd come by, too."

Soda pondered all that his friend had just told him. He tried to remember all the times in which Cherry had been brought to the DX during her depression, just for a temporary pickup. He knew there'd been a lot of times when that had happened, but he'd lost count after the first two months. He'd spend a half hour or so talking with her, trying to do anything that he thought would make her smile. Eight out of ten times he'd succeeded and got her to at least give a weak smile. Usually when he'd get her to smile, he'd end up smiling as well, happy that he had managed to get her to smile.

"Fine," Soda caved in with a sigh, "Fine. I'll tell Ponyboy tonight that I'll go along with the damn thing."

Steve smiled in victory. "Good," he said, "It'll be good for the two a'' ya."

"Yeah, sure…" _What am I getting myself into? _he thought nervously.

**I started my senior year (last year) of high school this past Monday. I'm graduating in May 2017 (I do online school, and the University I do it through graduates in May, and they have one whole bit ceremony for all the graduates of that year. It's pretty cool. My mom watched the graduation online when she graduated a few years back through the online academy. For the high school students who did school online, they sit altogether in a different color than the college graduates, so they're clearly seen in the huge crowd. All the college graduates have black gowns and hats on, then you just see a little sea of blue- that's the high school graduating class. It's seriously cool. We already got hotel rooms for graduation since it's not in New Jersey, but it Virginia- that hotel is now all booked up, but me and my mom are good, we got our rooms. My distant cousin (who we're oddly close with) from my dad's side and her husband are planning on coming to see me graduate. I'm excited.**

**Anyway, I'm rambling, I'm sorry. **

**Just so you know, since I'm now in school, I might make updates for this story and my others all once a month rather than twice a month. I have a creative writing class, so I'll have those writings, plus a paper for earth science, I believe. It'll be less rushed on me. I know it seems a bit selfish but in a way it's not, cause when my writing is rushed, my writing sucks and I don't want you guys all have to suffer just cause I'm stressed out. So in two weeks, there will be no update. In four weeks from now, there will be. Another four weeks, another update. Again, I apologize for this change, but I just don't want to rush things if I don't have to cause I'll already be stressed enough with this being my senior year, and applying for colleges and retaking the SAT and studying to get my drivers permit and license. Plus I'm looking for a job, so yeah.**

**Anyway. Hope you enjoyed the chapter- see you in four weeks. Peace from all the hippies of the world.**


	36. Chapter 34

"So, what're we doin'?" Dallas asked unsurely.

Kathy nodded. "I don't think I fully get it either," she said in a confused tone.

Ponyboy and Lily had met up with Two-Bit, Dallas and Kathy. After talking, it was decided that Kathy and Dallas would be the best for being with Soda and Cherry when they went to go talk in public. The two were best for the "job" for a few reasons. One: the two of them were both not dealing with anything at the present time. Two: neither of the two were picking sides and had zero intentions of doing so. Three: both of them had a level of zero when it came to tolerance for stupidity and ridiculous ness. The two of them were the best options for the job, so they'd been approached about it as soon as physically possible.

"Ok," Ponyboy began, "Sodapop and Cherry both agreed to meet up together again to talk."

Lily nodded. "Since Cherry's afraid they'll get into another argument, they both agreed to meet in public with two other people present," she continued.

"And what does that gotta do with us?" Dallas asked.

Ponyboy answered, "After talking 'bout it, the rest of us decided you two would be best to go with them."

Kathy gave a questioning look. "Why us, exactly?" she asked.

Lily rolled her eyes slightly. "Cause the two a' you don't take any crap from anyone for anythin'."

The two looked at each other and nodded in agreement. "Good point."

"So you'll do it?"

"Fine," Dallas sighed, "But if they start to argue and things get heated up the wrong way, I'm cuttin' in."

"Same here," Kathy nodded.

Ponyboy and Lily both smiled. "That's the idea," he said.

-/-/-

"Am I doin' the right thing here?" Cherry asked unsurely in a low voice.

Cherry had gone to see Evie again, during the day- when they both knew that Soda and Steve would be at work and wouldn't be coming back to the house anytime soon. When you got right down to it, the two girls had become best friends during the summer. Ever since the red head had woken up in the hospital, questioning and unsure of anything and everything around her, she'd felt that she could trust the girl with hair as dark as a raven- even after all that had happened. The two stayed close friends through all of what had happened, somehow, but they chose to stay with it. They liked each other's company, and knew that they could count on each other, no matter what the situation at this point.

"I think so," Evie nodded.

Cherry gave a questioning look. "Really?" she asked.

Evie really did think it was a good idea for the two to talk again- or at least, talk and not yell at each other. After all that had happened was out in the open, it was like all hell had broken loose over the two and their relationship- or whatever it was at this point. The two couldn't be in the same room together and not feel some kind of awkward tension, as well as whoever was in the room. At this point, it was a necessity for the two to talk- no matter what.

"Of course," Evie confirmed, "It'll be good for the two a' you."

"Why would it be good for us?" Cherry asked, "I don't even know what we really have at this point."

"Even more reason for the two of you to meet together. You two need to get together and talk about what happened like two civilized people."

"I honestly don't think that's possible at this point, Evie."

"See, that's the problem- at least one of them."

Cherry gave a confused look. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Ok," Evie began, "Part of the problem that you two are havin' is that you both think so negatively about the situation- that is a serious problem. The fact that you're both thinkin' so negatively about this already lowers the level of somethin' positive or good happenin', ok? So you have to think positively about this, ok? That even though things seem kinda rough and rocky, there's still a silver lining. But if you just focus on the darkness, you can't see the light."

Cherry stared at her friend for a brief moment, expressionless and at a slight loss for words. "Wow."

Cherry really was surprised at all that her friend had said. It seemed a bit odd to her that this was the same girl who'd been secluded, scared, and a bit depressed just months earlier. Could a person's outlook on life change so drastically in just a matter of a few months? Was that even possible to happen naturally, and without using any sort of drug or psychiatric help? She didn't think it was, but that was just going off of her own personal experience.

"How do you manage to think like that?" Cherry asked amazedly, "I mean, I think it's great, but how did you get that way?"

"I always kinda was," Evie admitted, "But I think I just got so scared when I got pregnant that you just didn't see it."

"And I'm guessing that changed once Layla was born?"

Evie chuckled. "Ironically."

-/-/-

A few days later, Dallas walked up to the Curtis house- which was not an unusual thing- and walked right in like usual. When he walked into the house, he wasn't surprised to see that all six others guys he hung around with were present. He greeted them all in different ways, going in accordance with the greetings he was given by those that were present. He looked around at those around him then went over to the one he'd particularly come looking for. He approached Soda, cool and neutral, like always.

"I need you to come with me," Dallas commanded in a stern voice.

Soda gave a questioning look. "Why?" he asked hesitantly, "And where are we goin'?"

"I'd like to know that as well," Darry interjected, a bit concerned and worried about what the answer might be.

Dallas rolled his eyes a bit. "Calm down, you two- not everythin' I do is illegal."

"Still would like to know where you're goin', Dal'."

"To talk to Cherry. Kathy and me are the ones who Ponyboy and Lily wanted to stay with Sodapop and Cherry when they talk about everything that happened this summer."

"Why today and now?" Soda asked, a bit nervous now.

"Well, you're not busy are you?"

"No, but-"

"And neither is Cherry, so let's go."

"Alright," Soda sighed and the two left the house. _I'm not ready for this_, he thought.

-/-/-

Kathy knocked on the front door of the Mathews' family house. That house was like a second home to her, considering how her boyfriend's mother loved having her around. It was also a great thing that she was such good friends with her brother's younger sister. She knocked again on the door, just in case her first went unheard, then waited for a moment until the door opened. When it opened, Lily appeared in the doorway.

"Is she ready to go?" Kathy asked.

"Ready as she'll ever be," Lily answered with a slight shrug.

Cherry then appeared in the doorway. "Let's go," she said with a forced, weak smile.

"You sure you're ready?"

Cherry took a deep breath. "It's now or never, right?" She then walked out of the house and to her friend's car.

**I apologize for the four week long wait for an update, rather than two week. But I've had a lot of schoolwork these last few weeks, since I just started my senior year. The job I was going to get also feel through, and I didn't start- in fact, I quit my first week, but if you were me and knew all the details, you'd understand why. And it wasn't like I decided on a whim to quit, I got opinions from people who know me well and are very important to me. **

**Anyway, I don't know if I will update in two weeks or four weeks again. My life is kinda hectic at the moment- good hectic- so I'm a bit overwhelmed at the present time. I'm also trying to finish a few stories and start a new one, and try to write something on Episode Interactive (don't judge me) and try to finish a book I'd been writing to get published, plus I volunteered to make story covers for a website that is for writers. So yeah. Not to mention I'll be applying to colleges soon- plus my 17th birthday is this month (September) so yeah. **

**Most likely it'll be in another four weeks.**

**Also, before I finish- Rest in Peace, Gene Wilder. My two favorite roles of yours were as Willy Wonka in the amazing "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" and as Dr Frankenstein in the hilarious "Young Frankenstein". You were a comic genius, a genius of your trade, and a true legend. Your death is grieved by people of all ages and generations, creating some of the best films in comic and film history. Thank you for all you've done throughout the years, and thank you for all the laughs. June 11, 1933 to August 29, 2016.**

**Anyway, hope you liked the chapter, and peace from all the hippies of the world. =^-^=**


	37. Chapter 35

**Comment in the reviews/ comments who you support in this story- TeamCherry, TeamSodapop, or even TeamCherryPop! :)**

Kathy and Cherry walked into the Dingo and looked around. They tried to locate the two guys they were meeting there, but stopped when they couldn't be found. The blonde looked around for a waitress, thinking she'd probably know if the two had come into the diner that was completely inhabited by Greasers- with the exception of the redhead standing next to her. She felt bad for her friend as she stood in the Dingo, a few people giving her odd looks.

"Hi," a waitress smiled as she walked up to the two girls, "Are you two lookin' for someone in particular?"

Kathy nodded. "Yeah," she answered, "Did Sodapop Curtis and Dallas Winston come at all?"

The waitress shook her head, causing her dark brown ponytail to sway back and forth. "Not that I've seen, and I've been here all day."

"Ok… could you tell them we're here when they get here? We'll be in a booth over there." She motioned to an empty booth in the right side of the diner.

"Sure," the waitress smiled, "I'll let them know."

"Thanks," Kathy smiled back at the young brunette waitress.

Kathy and Cherry walked over to the booth they said they'd be sitting at and slid into the seats. The two girls sat across from each other and picked up their menus. A few minutes later, the waitress came back and took their orders, saying that she'd take the other two orders when the two arrived at the diner. They agreed that was fine, and the waitress gave them a warm smile then walked away from them.

"I feel like she was mostly bein' nice to us cause she knows we're here waitin' for Dallas Winston and Sodapop Curtis," Kathy chuckled, "Two of the most popular guys in town."

"For completely different reasons," Cherry joked cautiously.

Kathy's eyes widened for a brief moment before she bust out into a fit of outrageous laughter. She shifted all over her leather bound seat as she laughed. As she laughed, Cherry couldn't help but laugh just as hard as her own comment about the two boys they were meeting in the upcoming moments. It felt good to the redhead to be laughing so genuinely at the present time. It gave both her and her blonde friend a good feeling to be laughing, that way, they'd be entering the upcoming meeting with a _somewhat_ good attitude.

-/-/-

Dallas and Soda walked through the streets of the East Side of Tulsa in a tension filled silence. The setting sun was against their backs, casting their moving shadows down in front of them as they walked. Neither of them spoke as they walked, and to be honest, neither of them really wanted to speak. They let the silent tension scream out the words they didn't feel like sharing.

But Dallas couldn't help but get annoyed with the thought in his head, clawing and scratching at his thought and mind in a failing attempt to get out.

During the summer, Dallas had done his best and his hardest in _not _getting involved in the- what he called- "Cherry- Sodapop- Issue". Sure, he was friends with the middle Curtis brother, but he didn't like getting involved in other people's personal issues and relationships. Hell, he didn't like getting involved in her own personal issues and relationships- that's why they were all always so screwed up. He always believed it was best to stay as far away as possible from "junk" like that, and so far- it had its ups and downs.

"Can I say somethin'?" Dallas asked in an exasperated tone, finally giving in to his mind and thoughts.

Soda shrugged. "Go ahead," he allowed.

Dallas rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "I don't say things like this too often… but you know we're all doin' this, or makin' you two do all this cause we care 'bout the two a' you."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"To be blunt- cause what you did was a real shitty thing to do, that's what."

Soda gave him an offended looked, mixed with a look of guilt. "I-"

"No. It was shitty. No question about it."

"Fine," Soda sighed in defeat, "I know that, alright?"

"Ya don't act like it," Dallas muttered.

"Well, I do! I don't need _you_ to tell me that, ok?!"

Dallas was shocked at the sudden outburst from the middle Curtis brother. He might have expected it from Darry, and maybe even Ponyboy at times- but definitely _not_ from Soda. The sudden outburst had left him utterly speechless at the moment. He was then shocked by his own reaction, but tried to cover his shock and quickly tried to shake it off. He was completely baffled and tried to think of what to do or say in response.

"Sodapop," Dallas tried, "C'mon, man, calm down. I was just bein' a smartass, alright? Don't get so worked up, huh?"

Soda stared at him for a moment then let out a heavy sigh. "Yeah," he breathed out.

It was no secret to those around Soda that he was different this summer. He was more aggressive, less happy and jovial- just not like he always was. It was almost a scary sight at times if they were all being honest with themselves. No one had ever really realized how aggressive he could get- at least when not in some kind of fight or rumble. It was a side of him they didn't know too well, and didn't see too often. This made it a bit nerve-wracking at times, both to him and those around him.

"I know I shouldn't have done it," Soda admitted quietly, "But I still did it. Case closed."

"No, case _not_ closed," Dallas disagreed, "That's what this whole thing is 'bout right now. To clear the air and get it all over and done with, despite the outcome."

"That's not gonna happen. Cause even if it all gets worked out for now, it'll always be in our heads for certain things."

"Nice attitude. Even I have a better attitude than that."

"Well it's true and you know it."

Dallas sighed. "What happened to you, man?" he asked, as if defeated.

Soda gave a confused look. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"You used to be so positive 'bout things, no matter what it was. But now- hell, you're downright negative 'bout a whole lot, man."

Soda shrugged and let out a heavy sigh. "I don't know, Dal'."

The two didn't say another word to each other the rest of their walk to the Dingo.

-/-/-

Cherry and Kathy continued to talk as if they were old friends as they waited. They asked if it was possible to have their meals arrive when the meals for the other two came arrived as the same time, which it was. So as they waited for the other two to arrive, they just continued to talk and laugh about anything and everything they could think of. It was nice for both girls.

"Excuse me?" they heard the brunette waitress say, "Dallas Winston and Sodapop Curtis are here."

"Ok, great," Kathy confirmed, "Thank you so much."

"Not a problem." The waitress gave them another smile before walking off.

The waitress walked over to Dallas and Soda, said something to them, and the two nodded to whatever she said to them. The two boys started to walk over toward the booth where the two girls were. The blonde and the redhead both turned their heads then stood up from their seats in the booth. The four all stood together silently for a moment, an awkward tension surrounding them.

"Hello, Soda," Cherry greeted awkwardly.

"Hey, Cherry," Soda greeted back, just as awkwardly.

**This story has only two more chapters before it's complete YAY. I'm thinking about doing an unofficial sequel /spinoff about Steve and Evie's daughter, Layla, cause I absolutely adore her and because I love the song she was named after by Derek and the Dominos/ Eric Clapton. Of course in the story she wasn't named after the song cause the song didn't exist in 1968 and wasn't released till 1971, but still.**

**I'm lucky about the fact that I was actually able to update this. I'm in the process of moving, which is making me behind in some school work, also looking for a job, and studying for my driving test, as well as applying for colleges in the very near future. Not to mention that I've finished writing a story here on fanfiction. Net, but am starting another by the end of December. So yeah. Very stressful.**

**But on the bright side, where we're moving is much better than where we were, and now I'm seventeen instead of sixteen since my birthday passed this month.**

**Anyway, I'll probably update in another four weeks. I apologize. If I update in two weeks, it'll be a miracle. Peace from all the hippies of the world.**


	38. Chapter 36

The four all stood awkwardly facing each other. The awkward tension that filled the air was so thick that, most likely, a chainsaw probably wouldn't be able to cut through it. It was no question as to what had cause the tension to form, but rather a question as to do or what to say to one another.

Dallas and Kathy looked around at the two they were with then at each other, both with looks of genuine annoyance on their faces. She rolled her eye s at the unnecessary silence, and he ran his hands over his face as he let out a sigh. The two others were still silent and awkwardly looking at each other, unsure of what to do or what to say. The two who had accompanied to make sure nothing bad happened stood annoyingly, not really wanted to "interrupt" what the two were in the middle of.

Kathy cleared her throat, gaining the attention of those around her. "Soda, Dallas," she greeted, "How 'bout we all sit down and you two can order."

"Yeah, sure," Soda agreed quietly and the group all sat down.

After the two males ordered their food, the group all sat in another awkward silence. To those around the teenage hangout diner, the group was a sight to see. IT was a bit odd to see the two bad boy, one of the most popular Greasers, one of the most popular Socs, and a girl who wasn't as known through the town all sitting together in a booth. It was known that Dallas and Soda were friends, and people knew that Cherry had been hanging around with Greasers the past summer, and that Soda and Cherry had been seen together a lot during the summer- but it was still a bit odd to see those of the group altogether sitting in a booth together out in public.

"So," Dallas begin in a rough and slightly annoyed voice, "Uh… how's it goin'?" He seemed to even doubt himself.

Both Cherry and Kathy raised their eyebrows at him. "Really?" Kathy asked, unconvinced at his efforts.

Dallas let out an exasperated sigh. "Ok, you know what? We all know why we're here, even though none of us wanna be. So Sod and Cherry, you two get to talkin', that way we can all leave. How's that work for everyone?"

Everyone was quiet for a minute or two before anyone said anything else. "I feel awful," Soda sighed, looking at the redhead.

Cherry came to attention and looked up at him. "What?" she asked confusedly.

"We'll just be in the next booth if you need us," Kathy commented quietly as she and Dallas slid out from the booth and moved to the mepty booth behind them.

Soda let out another sigh. "I said I feel awful."

"About?"

"What I did. What I put you through this summer."

Cherry looked down as her fingers fumbled with each other. "I t was pretty teribble, ya know."

"Yeah I know. I have it on pretty good grounds that it was downright shitty."

"Why'd you do it?"

"I don't really know."

"Yes you do."

Cherry was partly right. Soda only partly knew why he'd done what he'd done. When he'd done it, he'd been going off of an idea that would count as "flying off the seat of your pants". He really did have feelings for her, and he knew she like him too at some point- but after she got amnesia, would it be the same? For either of them? He had to find out what it would've been like- or at least what it might've been lie, or similar to it- to have been together with her. That was the whole thing about what happened in the summer. He explained all that he knew and remembered about the reason he'd done what he'd done, in which she listened patiently and quietly.

Once he was done, Cherry ran her hands over her face and let out a heavy sigh. "Ok," she sighed.

Soda gave a confused look. "Ok?" he asked in an unconvinced tone.

She nodded. "Ok… am I happy 'bout what you did? No, not at all. Would I have done the same thing? No way. Did you lose a good amount of my trust at all? TO be honest, yeah, a lot. I couldn't go one for hours about this…"

"I don't blame ya."

"But in all honesty, in some weird way, I find it almost flattering how you did all this just to date me."

Soda gave a weird look. "Really?" he asked.

"For some odd reason," Cherry admitted a bit embarrassingly.

Cherry really was a bit flattered by his reasoning. Of course, thought, she was still mad that he'd lied to her to so much and she could never condone what he did. She was honestly and truly confused about her feelings and opinions about the whole incident, once she thought about it. It was also a bit confusing to her. But at the same time, there were things that she was sure about- like how he had to earn back her trust.

She was also sure that she was willing to give him that second chance to earn it back, cause she knew that he really did like her, and the she really did like him.

"So where does this leave us?" Soda asked in a quiet voice after a minute of silence passed between them.

"I don't know," Cherry honestly and with a sigh.

"I really do like you. A lot."

"I like you, too. But based off of this summer's events, I kinda have trouble fully trustin' you at the moment."

"Like I said, I don't blame you."

"But," Cherry continued, "Hear me out. Now look, maybe I'm crazy for doing this- but I'm going to give you another chance."

Soda gave a look of confusion. "What now?" he asked confusedly.

"For some reason, I'm willin' to give you a chance to prove to me that I can actually trust you."

Soda gave an excited look as he smiled. "Really?"

Cherry really didn't know why she still like him, or why she was giving him another chance. She knew that it was a bit risk to take, both mentally and emotionally, but for some reason, it was one risk she was willing to take. She knew it would take a while for her to fully be able to trust him again, and she hoped he could understand that. She felt that she would never understand why she even allowing for this all to begin.

Soda was in complete shock at what the redhead had said. To say that he wasn't expecting what came out of her mouth would be a completely understatement. At first, he didn't know wat to say in response. Once it had actually clicked and processed in his head what she had suggested, eh could only smile in complete and utter choked. He couldn't believe his ears.

"Yes," Cherry answered surely, "I'm willing to give you another chance to earn back my trust."

"Damn," Soda breathed out, "Just… now I question why you're so crazy to do it?" His voice was teasing.

She smiled playfully. "I do too. I guess I just like you too much. SO you wanna start over?"

Soda smiled at her and nodded. "I'd like that."

**There's only one more chapter left of this story. Thank you all for reading this story. There may or may not be a sequel after it about Steve and Evie's daughter Layla, but be on the lookout for it. I'm not 100 percent sure if I'll do it, but I will think about it. If it does happen, it'd probably be called "Layla", and mostly based off of the song "Layla" by Eric Clapton, like the character was named after by me (not in the story since she was born in 1968, and I'm pretty sure that song came out in 1971, but definitely the 70s).**

**I'll probably post the last chapter next week.**

**Hope you liked this story. Peace from all the hippies of the world. =^-^=**


	39. Finale

Cherry and Soda started over in their relationship, just like they had agreed to. As they dated, he managed to earn her trust back within a six month period. The two continued to date through the rest of her senior year of high school, as well as throughout his future two year long draft to fight in Vietnam and her college years. Yes, it was difficult at times, but they somehow managed to make it work. The two eventually got engaged and married in the year 1974.

Cherry and Marcia made up not long after everything had been cleared up. The two remained friends, but were no longer as close as friends as they had been at some point. The two eventually and unconsciously began to drift apart in their senior year and leading all the way up to when they went to college and went to different schools. They never had an official falling out, but rather just drifted apart as they got older.

However, Cherry did grow closer in her friendship with Evie, Lily, Kathy, as well as the rest of that group of friends.

Evie and Steve lasted throughout the long haul in their marriage. They were truly proud of themselves on how they matured and developed, both as individuals and as a married couple, and then especially as parents. They continued to live in her childhood home, where they stayed throughout the rest of their married life until they were old and gray, where they raised their children.

Evie somehow managed to make time for school. She went back to community college a few months after Layla was born, as well as a part time job. She became an American History and Creative Writing teacher at the town high school, as well as becoming one of the guidance counsellors at the school. On the weekends, she volunteered at a center for girls who were and would become teenage or single mothers.

Steve and Soda eventually became business partners. They opened up their own garage, which eventually became a known garage chain throughout the United States. The two were extremely successful and profited greatly from their chain, and were able to create better lives for their children.

Cherry became one of the top executives for Soda and Steve's garage chain. She worked practically twenty-four hours, seven days a week. She'd only take time off for time with her husband, the occasional pregnancy, her children's events, as well as major events and get-togethers' that involved her friends and their children.

-/-/-

_1974, Cherry and Soda's Wedding Day._

"I now pronounce you man and wife," the priest said happily, "You may kiss the bride."

Both Soda and Cherry smiled at each before they both leaned toward each other. Once their lips connected, they felt into the kiss as their arms wrapped around each other to keep each other as close as physically possible. Those in attendance at the small wedding all applauded and cheered, a few people snapping pictures of the sight to eventually give to the new married couple. After a moment or two, the two pulled away from each other and smiled at their guests as they ran to the back of the sanctuary down the aisle and out of the building.

A bit later, at the reception at a nearby restaurant, all of the guests applauded as the newly married couple entered the rented party room. They all greeted one another, as well as congratulated the couple on their marriage.

"Thank you for being my maid of honor, Evie," Cherry smiled gratefully at her friend, "I know it probably wasn't the easiest thing at this point in your pregnancy."

Evie nodded and let out a light chuckle. "I won't correct you on that," she teased, "But trust me, I'm real happy that you chose me- and havin' Layla as the flower girl."

"Well, she is Soda's and my goddaughter, so… speaking of that, where is Layla and Bella, anyway?"

"Last I saw, with Steve and Soda runnin' around like the man children they are."

"Gee, thanks, Evie," Soda said sarcastically as the two men approached the two women, the two little girls trailing along right with them.

"Nice to know what ya think of us," Steve teased.

Layla and Bella ran over to Cherry and Evie. "Mommy, Daddy made a funny sound with his tongue," Bella informed with a smile.

"So did Uncle Soda," Layla added, looking up at the redhead in white.

Cherry let out a chuckle and looked at Soda. "Did you now?" she wondered aloud.

Soda shrugged innocently. "Layla and Bella liked it," he tried to defend.

Cherry chuckled again. "At least it lets me know that you still got a sense of humor."

"That'll never change, trust me."

-/-/-

One year later, Cherry became pregnant with her and Soda's first child: a little girl, who they named Jacqueline Rose Curtis, born in the beginning of the summer of 1976. They eventually had another child: a little boy born in the winter of 1979, who they named David John Curtis.

Steve and Evie had their second child- who was in attendance at their best friend's wedding- in the winter of 1969, one year after Layla was born; a little girl who they named Bella Daisy Randle. In the fall of 1974, they had their third child: a little boy named Steven James Randle Junior. In the spring of 1980, they had their fourth and final child: a little girl they named Violet Emily Randle.

In the middle of September of 1999, Jacqueline "Jackie" Rose Curtis and Steven James Randle Jr. got married, making the two families become one.

**Look out for the possible spinoff of this story ( "Loyalty" ) about Layla Estelle Randle, which, if it happens, will be titled "Layla", loosely based off of the Eric Clapton song released in 1971, "Layla".**


End file.
